Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Hearts
by Ricorum Scaevola
Summary: Sora, Donald and Goofy travel to Hyrule and find that Heartless are the least of the world's problems. They team up with Link to fight Heartless and save Hyrule. Set Post KH2, in the middle of OOT. I"M BACK! LETS FINISH THIS THING!
1. Chapter 1

Hey, This is my first multi-chapter fiction, So l would love reviews on what I could be doing better. this whole idea came to me in the middle of the night and I couldn't sleep until I had written down the basic idea on some scrap paper.

**DISCLAIMER**

Legend of Zelda is owned by Nintendo, NOT ME  
Kingdom Hearts is owned by Square Enix and Disney Interactive Studios, NOT ME

Legend of Zelda; Ocarina of Hearts

Chapter 1

* * *

Sora peered out of the Gummi Ship window, entranced by the new world ahead of them. Though he had been to (and saved) countless worlds now, each new one brought back his old curiosity and sense of adventure.

To turned back to the interior of the cabin, and to his two friends traveling with him. "Donald, have we got a place to land yet?" he asked the duck sitting in the pilot's seat. "Don't be so excited; I'm taking the ship down now!" Donald seemed to be in a bad temper, but Sora knew that's how he was all the time. He turned to the other passenger, a tall dog-like creature with a shield strapped to his arm. "Can you think of any reasons why this world popped up on our map?" Sora asked while turning to look out the window again.

"Well, just offhand, I'd say that there were Heartless on that there world" Goofy responded. "There might even be a keyhole for you so seal, Sora."

Sora leaned back, thinking about the other keyholes he'd sealed, preventing the Heartless from taking the heart of the world. There were so many now, not like a few years ago, when he could vividly remember every world he had ever been to. Worlds were popping up left and right now, and it was all he, Kairi, Riku and King Mickey could do to stay one step ahead of the Heartless. Normally, Sora, Kairi and Riku would never be found apart, but the influx of worlds needing sealed had forced the Keyblade Wielders to split up and tackle separate worlds. Sora wasn't worried about them; Riku could take care of himself, and Kairi was no longer the (mostly) helpless girl she used to be, but Sora missed their presences anyway. Once this world was sealed, he'd see them both again…

Sora's musings were interrupted by Donald's excited quacking. "We've got a world name and a place to land! The world is called Hyrule; we'll be landing near the capital, a place called Castle Town.

Sora watched as Donald expertly maneuvered the Gummi Ship down through the dark clouds surrounding the world. He suddenly felt a cold shudder pass through him as the ship went lower and lower. He didn't know what was going on, but for some reason he thought the clouds seemed a little foreboding. As soon as the thought came, Sora banished it. How was he supposed to know what the clouds were and weren't? For all he knew, the clouds were perfectly normal. Still, the dark feeling wouldn't leave him until the ship touched down and excitement overrode caution. "Let's go!" Sora bounded out of his seat and opened the door to the outside.

The first thing he noticed was the smell. It was the smell of smoke, sulfur and death all rolled into one. The smell reminded him of the village that was burned down by the Huns in the Land of Dragons. As Sora walked forward, coughing in the smoke, the haze around him cleared a bit and he gasped, sending him into another coughing fit.

The town was completely obliterated.

Buildings had been burned, shops looted, charred bodies lay everywhere; even the street had been torn up, like a giant creature had raked its claws along the road. Sora was no stranger to violence, but this wholesale destruction was beyond anything he'd ever seen. He remained motionless as Donald and Goofy joined him, and together they viewed the carnage, no one speaking.

"Gawrsh, what could have done this?" Goofy bent down and picked up a piece of cobblestone, weighing it in his hand. "This would have to have been something big."

Donald tapped the ground with his staff. "Looks like the work of Heartless. This is probably why we were sent here."

Sora frowned. There was something off about that idea, though he couldn't think what-

"Watch out!"

Sora and his companions ducked out of the way as a blast of fire hit where they had been standing. Sora tucked into a roll and came to his feet facing dozens of Heartless sprouting out of the shadows. Alright. Regardless of what caused the destruction, there were Heartless here now. Sora extended his hand, and his Keyblade materialized in his grip. Goofy readied his shield, and Donald raised his staff, preparing spells. Questions could wait until after they'd destroyed some shadows.

* * *

Sora ducked and rolled, slashing at the shadows around him. Heartless dissolved into mist as the Keyblade cut into them. Behind Sora, Donald struck a Heartless with his staff, then whirled and shot a bolt of ice at small group of Red Nocturnes, freezing them to the wall of a ruined building. To Sora's left, Goofy smashed a heartless into oblivion, then twirled with surprising agility and smashed a Knight creeping up behind him. The Heartless crashed into a wall, dissolving into shadow before the wall collapsed. Sora grinned as he struck down a wave of Shadows. Stuff like this was easy. Riddles were better left to the thinkers. He, while not stupid by any means, definitely preferred action to sitting around talking. Besides, fighting was way easier…

That's right when his Keyblade hit something semi-solid, not at all like a Heartless. He jumped back to see what he hit, but as he turned his head, a bloodcurdling scream tore through his ears, skipped his brain and went straight to his limbs, freezing them in place. This was nothing he had ever felt before. He was burning and freezing all at once, his mind simultaneously clear and confused. The clear side of his mind recognized what it was; it was fear. The rest of his mind rebelled against this idea; Sora had never felt fear like this before. Not when fighting Ansem or Xemnas, not when Riku stole his Keyblade, not even when he found Kairi on the floor of Hollow Bastion. This fear was greater than all those put together. It went to the darkest corners of his mind, showing him horrors unimaginable, things no sane man could or should even dream of. Sora was beginning to lose his grip on reality; there was nothing left…

Nothing but darkness…

Nothing but darkness…

Nothing but… Fire?

Fire exploded all around Sora, searing heat that blasted away the shadows. The horrible screaming cut off suddenly and Sora fell to his knees, coughing and retching violently. He looked around for Donald, but found him and Goofy in a similar position on the ground. So, if Donald didn't conjure the fire, who…?

"**HEY!**"

…What…?

"Listen up! Are you deaf or something? **HEY!** I'm talking to you!"

Something smacked Sora in the head. He fought off unconsciousness and stared at… well, it was a glowing blue _something_, though he didn't know what kind of something it was. It had two sets of wings and was hovering in front of his face. Sora had no idea how he knew, but he seemed to instinctively know that the…whatever…was angry at him, though he didn't know why. He cleared his throat and started to speak—

"**HEY!** What are you doing sitting there like a stoned Goron? Who are you? Where are you from? Shouldn't you know better than to go into Castle Town? Are you listening to me? Don't you know how dangerous ReDeads are? What were those shadowy things? That was pretty stupid! Are you OK? Why are your ears round? What are you doing out at night anyway? **HEY!** Pay Attention! Boy, aren't you glad we were in the neighborhood to rescue you!"

Only the very last bit filtered through Sora's head as he stood up, shaking the last of the paralysis off. "Rescue? …We? Who are you?"

The blue think seemed even more annoyed. "I'm Navi, don't cha know? I'm a Fairy? Jeez, you're thicker than my partner, and that's sayin something! That's him over there, with the stupid hat."

Sora looked over where the fairy had…pointed… (He just seemed to have this instinct that told him what the fairy's intentions were. Kairi would say he was getting more perceptive; Riku would say he was going insane) and saw a blur of green moving through the charred corpses (which Sora now realized weren't corpses at all, but some type of monster) cutting them up. Sora squinted through the gloom and made out a man wielding a sword and heavy shield. The man was obviously a master swordsman; Sora could immediately tell he was at least the level of Leon or Cloud, maybe better. The man moved through the monsters like wind; everywhere he went, a head or limb would just seem to fall off a monster; Sora could barely see his sword moving. The man seemed to have the speed and agility of an acrobat, but his sword-strokes were incredibly powerful. He wasn't limited to his sword either; Sora saw him pull out a bow and fire an arrow; then the bow was gone and Sora only had the quivering arrow in a monster's head as proof he wasn't imagining things. At one point the man's sword got stuck in a monster. Instead of fight to retrieve it, He simply bashed the monster with his shield, blowing pieces off of it. Goofy would be proud.

The fairy was talking again, but Sora just tuned it out as he watched. The man seemed to motion to Sora at one point and Sora somwhow got the impression that the man wanted him to get to Donald and Goofy. He ran over to his two friends and helped them up, with Navi chattering in his ear the entire time. Suddenly, the man was right beside them and he had done something with his hands and Navi had yelled to hold on and Sora's brain was only just catching up when the world started spinning and there was green and a sound of rushing wind and then everything _folded_…

At that point Sora thought it best to simply close his eyes and wait for the world to start making sense again.

* * *

Sora felt grass under his hands. He was on his knees again, eyes closed. He cautiously opened them and stood up. Nothing was spinning, so Sora looked around. They were all standing in the middle of a vast expanse of field. He could see mountains in the distance one direction, but the rest of the land was basically flat. There was no sight of the ruined town or the monsters. He turned to Donald to find him staring in awe at the man in green, who was paying them no attention as he pulled out a strange blue wind instrument and started to play.

"That guy…" Donald kept sputtering and gaping, so it took him a while to form a sentence. "That guy…" "That guy what?" Sora asked to get Donald's head out of the clouds. "That guy just used a super-powerful teleportation spell!" Donald was nearly incoherent in his excitement. "It was near instantaneous, and it affected all of us! What was that?"

"That was Farore's Wind!" The strange blue fairy was back to buzzing around Sora's head. "It's a super-nifty one-of-a-kind transportation spell, so you should be grateful you got to see it!"

"Yeah, we're grateful…Navi, right?" Sora wasn't quite sure what to make of this talkative fairy, but there was no doubt that they had been saved, at least for the moment. "So, what were those monsters back there? Those corpse things…what did they do to us?"

"ReDead." The man spoke suddenly, but when Sora looked at him, he had put away his instrument and was staring off into the distance, as if waiting for something. Navi picked up the conversation. "Those were ReDeads. Its gaze will paralyze you. If it bites you, it will start to suck out your energy, so you shouldn't let it get close."

"Paralyze, huh?" Goofy spoke up. "That seems like a kinda mild term for it. I felt cold all over, and I couldn't even breathe. It sure was a good thing you fellas came along".

"Most people know better than to even go near Castle Town, much less a ReDead." Navi's words carried an accusatory tone. "Who are you guys anyway?"

"Well, I'm Sora, and this is Donald and Goofy. We didn't even know what ReDeads were until just now. I just assumed they were this world's brand of Heartless." Sora watched the man as he spoke. Now that he was closer, he could see that the man was younger than he had thought; not much older than himself. He was built much like Sora as well, with lean, powerful muscles along his arms and chest. He was dressed in white pants and a tight shirt, over which there was a green tunic with two belts, one across his waist, the other strapping his sword to his back. When he shifted Sora should see a chainmail shirt under his tunic. He had long, blond hair with a floppy green hat perched on top, almost like a bird. The belt on his waist held assorted pouches, including what looked like a munny purse and a bag made out of what looked like an animal's stomach. His eyes were piercing blue-grey. They seemed to bore through Sora, looking like he was talking and listening at the same time. Sora answered the unasked question. "Yeah, Heartless. Those dark things that came out of the shadows. They eat people's hearts to get stronger. They're probably on this world to find the heart of the world and consume it. If that happened, the world would dissolve into darkness and chaos." He was diverted by a sound of hoofs, and he turned to see a large brown horse come galloping towards them.

"This World's already fallen." The man spoke almost to himself as he approached the horse. Sora couldn't even be sure the man had spoken; his voice was half heard by his ears, half inside his head. He decided that the man was just good at nonverbal communication. The man grabbed the horse's reins and started walking, pausing to turn back and motion towards them.

"What's goin on, do ya reckon?" Goofy spoke for the three of them. Navi flew close to them. "Come on already! I can tell we've got a lot to talk about."

"Wait." Sora called to the man as they began to follow. "What's your name?"

The man paused, and then turned to look at them. This time, Sora definitely saw and heard him speak.

"My name is Link. Hero of Time."

* * *

And that's the first chapter! Please review and give me questions, comments and things you liked or disliked. Please note that I have taken a few Liberties with some of the technical aspects. Any changes you see with the minor bits of either game are intentional. Also, this is set after Kingdom Hearts 2, but right in the middle of Ocarina of Time. Sora is about 17 years old; Link is currently 18-19.  
Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

Yay! Chapter 2! For not being able to write, this story is flowing pretty well. Still, to my one subscriber, don't get too used to quick updates.

**DISCLAIMER**

Legend of Zelda is owned by Nintendo, NOT ME  
Kingdom Hearts is owned by Square Enix and Disney Interactive Studios, NOT ME

Legend of Zelda; Ocarina of Hearts

Chapter 2

* * *

Sora followed Link as he walked through the field. The night was mostly clear, and the stars were clearly visible in the sky. Sora had no idea which stars were actually worlds, but he pretended he did anyway. The star on the far left was where Riku was, and the star just ahead of them was where Kairi was. Sora wished his friends were here. They would know how to help this world. Kairi would point out something that he had overlooked, or Riku come up with some ridiculously complex plan that would end up with them all nearly getting killed. Scratch that. Sora didn't want Riku here, just Kairi. He really missed her…

Link didn't talk as he led the group. The only noise he made was the sound of his boots on the grass. His head was constantly in motion though, scanning the ground around them for unseen threats. Sora thought about talking to him, but Link seemed to exude an aura of silence. No one was really in the mood to talk except Navi, who had an aura of never-shutting-up. The fairy would go off on the strangest topics, talking about races and peoples Sora had never heard of, and then suddenly sending a wave of questions at the Trio. Before anyone could decipher what she had said, she had launched back into her own narrative. It was as if she didn't even care if anyone responded, or was even listening. She would probably talk to an empty room, just for the sake of doing something. Sora was beginning to wish she were more like Tinker Bell, who you couldn't understand, and only really talked to Peter anyway. Sora had already noticed that Link seemed to share some similarities with Peter Pan, such as a Fairy (or Pixie) companion, pointed ears and an affinity to green. However, the similarities ended there. Where Peter had been loud, friendly and completely youthful, Link was almost the exact opposite. He wasn't rude by any means, but he didn't seem to be much of a "people person". He was almost completely silent, and he carried himself as one who had seen too much for his age. Sora had seen some of the same thing with Riku, after he had come back from the Darkness. Sora could relate to that. At seventeen, he had seen things in the Dark that would drive people insane if they looked too long. But still, he had his friends around him, and he always maintained his upbeat attitude. What was happening to this world, Sora wondered, that was making Link like this?

Link suddenly paused and looked into the distance. Sora was about to ask what was going on when Link's hand came up, quieting him. So much for that, then. Navi had also stopped talking, which unnerved Sora. He had actually grown used to the nonstop chatter, and with that stopping, total silence blanketed group.

"What's going…?" Donald began quietly, but he broke off as the ground began to shake. Numerous skeletal hands erupted out of the earth as small creatures made entirely of bone began digging themselves out of the ground.

Link's hands flew to his back, and he pulled out a bow. He quickly nocked an arrow and sent it flying at the nearest creature, knocking its head off. As the body fell to the ground and began dissolving into smoke, Link quickly vaulted onto his horse. "Go!" he yelled at Sora, who had already pulled out his Keyblade. "Navi!"

"Right!" The fairy turned to Sora and his companions. "Link will cover us; we run to our destination. We'll be safe once we get there, so let's hurry!"

"But Link…" Sora gestured helplessly at the swarm of monsters that was steadily becoming an army.

"Link will be fine! He's faced way worse than this! There was this one time…" Navi was drowned out by the roar of a larger monster digging itself out of the earth. When Sora could hear again, all he caught was "…and then he stuck a bomb in its ribcage, and _Boom!_ So come on!" With that, started flying away in the direction they had been going. With one last glance at Link, who was riding circles around the monsters, pelting them with arrows, Sora ran after Navi with Donald and Goofy close behind.

They kept running as more skeleton things erupted out of the ground around, sidestepping to keep up with Navi, who flew ahead of them, and leading the way.

"**HEY!**" Navi's cry alerted Goofy just in time, and he brought his shield up just in time to block a monster's strike. His return blow blasted the creature apart, and bones went flying everywhere. "What are these things?" Goofy asked as he kept running. Navi responded while flying even faster. "It's a Stalchild! Don't be afraid of it! Just attack it repeatedly! They're really weak, but their numbers are practically endless!"

Donald blasted a Stalchild out of the way with a blast of fire. "If they never stop coming, where are we going?" he yelled angrily.

"There!" Navi seemed to point to a small hill in the distance. As they approached, Sora realized that it wasn't really a hill, but a high walled building of some sort. "That's Lon Lon Ranch! We'll be safe there. The Stalchildren can't follow us in!"

Sora, Donald and Goofy ran like mad after Navi as she flew toward the Ranch. Any Stalchildren who got in their way were destroyed. Sora learned to target their bodies, because if you hit their heads, the rest of the body would keep fighting. Navi was kind enough to point this out only after Sora had been blindsided by one he had already thought destroyed.

The group was almost to the ranch when an earsplitting roar hit them. Sora turned around to see Link riding toward them with a Stalchild almost thirty feet tall pounding after him. Donald gasped. "What is that thing!" Navi responded almost matter-of-factly. "The more Stalchildren you kill, the bigger the next ones will be. With you three _and_ Link killing them, we must have roused one of the really big ones."

Sora stared up at the monstrosity. He had fought large creatures before, but this one was ridiculous. He started to charge toward it, but was stopped by Navi. "**HEY!** Don't worry! Link's got this under control… probably."

Sora looked at the fairy with horror. "Under control? Arrows aren't going to stop it, and his sword is like a toothpick to that thing! We need to charge it together —" He was interrupted as Link's horse galloped past rider-less. Goofy yelled something, and Sora spun around just in time to see Link throw something large and round at the monster. Sora briefly recalled Jack Sparrow throwing something similar during fights…

**BOOM!**

A loud explosion tore the giant apart, its bones raining down from the sky. Most of the bones didn't even reach the ground before dissolving into smoke. Sora gazed in astonishment at Link as he ran towards them. He passed them with a nod and continued walking up the path to the Ranch, as if this was a regular occurrence. Seeing that no answers were forthcoming, Sora reluctantly followed.

* * *

Lon Lon Ranch was, in a word, peaceful. There were no monsters anywhere, and Sora didn't even see the shadows that preceded a Heartless attack. The Ranch was composed of several buildings inside the wooden walls, and a large pasture with a fence all around it. Everything was quiet, but it was a peaceful sort of stillness, the complete opposite of the field outside.

The stillness was broken as the door to one of the houses opened and a girl stepped outside. She had flaming red hair and pointed ears like Link's. She looked about the same age as Sora. Her hair was messed up and she was wearing a nightdress, hinting that she had been woken up by the commotion. Her first words confirmed this: "Fairy Boy! It's good to see you again! I thought the Stalchildren were acting up more than usual, and then Epona galloped up, then the explosion… I knew it had to be you!" She embraced Link, who had gone red at his apparent nickname, and the girl's hug only intensified his blush. The horse, Epona, sidled up to the girl and nudged her, breaking the embrace. "Oh, Epona, I could never forget you!" the girl laughed and embraced the horse as well. "How has the Fairy Boy been treating you, huh? You seem thinner than when I last saw you; is he feeding you enough, girl?"

Sora stifled a chuckle; it seemed as if the girl cared more about the horse than she cared about Link.

The girl finally broke her embrace with Epona and turned to them. "Oh, it's nice to have guests, even if it is in the middle of the night. I'm Malon; what are your names?"

As Donald introduced them, Sora noticed that Link was staring at him. The blush still hadn't faded, and he almost had a pleading expression on his face. Sora resolved right then to never call Link "Fairy Boy". He nodded, and Link smiled for a moment before turning back to Malon and clearing his throat. Before he could speak, however, Malon cut him off. "Of course you can stay here, Fairy Boy! Me and Pa have always said that you're welcome here anytime! You and your friends just go inside and make yourself at home; I'll get Epona all settled in for the night." Link nodded, then grabbed Epona's reins and started leading her to the barn. Malon pursed her lips. "Or, you can take care of Epona, and I'll see to your friends. Honestly! That boy drives me insane sometimes! Wants to do everything himself, with no help from anyone! Doesn't let anyone get too close… anyway!" she turned to Sora and the others. "I'll get you boys settled in for the night. Any friend of my Fairy Boy is a friend of mine! She led them inside the house, where there was a cheery fire burning in the furnace, warming the entire room. A bleary-eyed, slightly potbellied man was at the table with a steaming mug. He started as Malon entered and quickly rose to his feet. "Miss Malon! Is everything alright? Do you require any assistance?" Malon giggled and shook her head. "No Ingo, everything is alright. I'm just getting some guests settled in for the night. You can go back to sleep."

As Ingo shuffled off, Malon turned to Sora. "So, you're Sora, right?"

"Um, that's right, Miss."

Malon giggled again. "Just Malon. But a guy as cute as you can call me anything!" Sora felt his face flush and heard Goofy stifle a laugh as Malon turned away and started getting out mats, humming to herself. Sora idly noticed that the song she has humming was the same as the song that Link had played to summon Epona out in the field. Trying to change the subject, he asked hurriedly "So, you know Link, Mi—Malon?"

"Oh yes, he and I go way back." Malon answered as she dug out blankets and pillows. He came here seven years ago and left quite an impression on me. He was so cute back then. Of course, he's much more handsome now…" Malon seemed lost in thought for a moment, but continued. "He just came back a little while ago after being gone for seven years! The nerve of some men, not visiting once in that time! Anyway, he saved us from a group of bandits who were trying to take over the ranch. Now, he comes back with you three in tow! Where'd he pick up you all anyway?"

Sora attempted to explain without mentioning Heartless or interstellar travel. It was never a good idea to try to explain to a world's inhabitant that you were the only thing standing in the way of total destruction. People tended to either freak out or laugh.

"Well, Link saved us from some ReDeads and took us here. We know some stuff about some new monsters that have been popping up." Sora hoped he could leave it at that.

Malon smiled. "Yeah, he's good at that, isn't he? Saving people? I don't know a whole lot about him, but I know he's a hero. I'll forever love him for what he did for my family and for our Ranch. He's a true hero.

* * *

Sora was running. Redeads were right behind him. He was going as fast as he could, but then the scream hit him…

Sora bolted upright, panting. It was just a dream. There weren't any ReDeads. He was safe.

He shrugged off the blankets that Malon had given him the night before, trying to forget what she had said about "sleeping up in her room if it gets too cold down here...(insert suggestive wink here)" but to no avail. He was pretty sure she was messing with him and that she just enjoyed making boys like him and Link squirm. But still…

It was still a little while till dawn when Sora left the house and headed out to the fenced pasture, so he was surprised to find Link already there, going through sword forms, Navi hovering beside him giving out directions. Sora watched for a second, then made his mind and walked closer, drawing attention to himself. Link paused as Sora summoned his Keyblade. "Let's spar. It's always better to train with a partner." Link raised an eyebrow, but nodded and got back into his ready stance, shield held out in front of him, twirling his sword. Sora grasped his Keyblade with both hands, bent his knees and eyed his opponent. The two stayed like that for only a moment, then both leapt forward to strike, sword on Keyblade.

The two of them continued for a while. Link's blade was slightly slower than Sora's, but he hit harder, even one handed. Sora was more agile, but he couldn't get past Link's shield, which intercepted most of Sora's blows. Sora and Link both favored rolling or jumping to avoid blows. While Sora could close in from farther distance to strike, Link could spin and attack all around him at once, negating Sora's strikes at his back.

Sora had been correct. Link was a master swordsman. Even though neither was going all out, Sora still hadn't felt so hard pressed since he had fought Leon and Cloud simultaneously. His plan might not work. Sora gritted his teeth and pressed slightly harder.

"So, I thought this might be a good time to get some things out in the open." Sora started talking. He was hoping to draw out answers with his swings rather than with words. The problem was that talking took part of his mind off fighting, and he needed most of it just to stay on-par with Link's abilities.

"So, first off, thanks for saving me and my friends from those ReDeads."

A brief nod was all the answer he got.

"And thanks for covering for us against those monsters in the field. Navi called them Stalchildren?"

A nod.

"So, anyway, those explosives you used against that big one… I've seen something like it before."

Link's expression didn't change; apparently handheld bombs weren't uncommon on this world. Sora blocked a swing, then decided to go all in.

"On another world."

Slip. Sora caught Link's sword with his Keyblade, knocking it upwards. Link couldn't bring his shield to bear against Sora's next blow and had to backflip out of the way, giving Sora enough time to compose his next verbal assault. Link had implied that he had already met some Heartless, so Sora decided to follow up on that.

"That's where me and my friends are from. Another world. We came here chasing after the Heartless."

Block. Turn. Stab.

"When somebody's heart turns to darkness, they become a Heartless. They set off looking for hearts. I already said that they also look for the hearts of worlds, to consume them. If they get to the heart of a world, it falls into darkness and is destroyed."

Lunge. Parry. Strike.

"You said this world has already fallen. Did you really mean that?"

Stumble. Roll. Nod. Attack.

"I've only been on this world for a day, but I can already tell that there's something already wrong. Something that goes beyond the Heartless. What is it?

Dodge. Thrust. "…Ganondorf."

"Ganondorf. Who is he?"

Link finally broke off and stuck his sword in the ground. Sora nearly collapsed. He had fought a thousand Heartless at once, but Link was in a league all by himself. Still, his plan worked. Maybe he could get some answers out of Link now that he had already started talking.

Link used the back of his hat to wipe his face and sat down. "Ganondorf used to be the King of Thieves. Now he's the 'King of Evil'."

Sora also sat down. "So he's the reason for the monsters all over the place?"

Nod.

"How long has he been in charge?"

"…Seven years."

"Malon said something about you disappearing for seven years. Did that have something to do with Ganondorf?"

Nod. "I had gone to get a weapon that could beat him. This sword." Link gestured at his blade still stick in the ground. Sora took a good look at it. It was a one-handed longsword with a blue-purple hilt. The guard was shaped kind of like outstretched wings, with a glowing yellow gem in the middle. A triangle symbol was etched on the blade. All in all, it looked like a normal weapon, but Sora sensed something strange about it, something akin to the Keyblade. There was a hidden power in this blade; Sora was certain.

"What is it?"

"It's called the Master Sword, also known as 'The Blade of Evil's Bane'. It's the only thing that can defeat Ganondorf."

"It took you seven years to find this sword?"

Link shook his head. "I found it quickly. It didn't find me ready to wield it, so it put me to sleep."

Sora nodded; he had plenty of experience with sleep. "That happened to me once. I was losing my memories so I was put to sleep for a year while someone recovered them. It was weird, going to sleep age fourteen, waking up fifteen." Sora grinned at the memory. He had been so clumsy at the beginning, but he had gotten better.

Link smiled for a moment, though it was more of a grimace. "I was twelve when I went to sleep."

Sora didn't catch on for a moment, but then it hit him. Link was older than he was. Seven years. Asleep until he was ready…

"No way. You've been asleep for SEVEN YEARS?

Link nodded again. "Until I was ready to wield the blade."

Sora would have fallen over, if he hadn't already been sitting down. The way Link said it so matter-of-fact was the most disturbing thing. It was as if this was the least of Link's problems; the fact that he went to sleep as an adolescent and woke up an adult. He finally composed his thoughts enough to speak. "But you're awake now, right? So what's stopping you from going after Ganondorf now?"

Link grimaced again. "I'm still not strong enough. I needed to awaken the Sages first."

"Sages?"

At this point Navi jumped in, apparently annoyed at how slowly the conversation was progressing. "There are six Sages who are all over Hyrule. It's their power that gives the Master Sword strength, and their strength is needed to permanently defeat Ganondorf! By ourselves we would be no match against Ganondorf and the Triforce!"

That was a new term. "Triforce?"

Navi kept speaking. "The Triforce! The relic left over by the goddesses when they created this world! The Triforce is the literal power of the goddesses, and Ganondorf took it! It's the reason why he's so powerful!"

Link took over. "The Sages need to be awakened, which is what I've been doing. But recently…"

Navi finished his thought. "Recently there have been strange shadowy creatures all over the place messing with us. They've been fusing with monsters, putting up barriers, and basically making our job much harder. I knew they weren't natural, cause I didn't know anything about them, which is a big deal, cause I know about every monster there is. Names, weak points, everything. These things are new."

Sora saw the solution. "Then let us help. We can take out heartless, and you can awaken the Sages." He saw Link about to argue and continued quickly. "Besides, it was probably Ganondorf who got the Heartless to come here anyway, so this is as much our fight as it is yours." He remembered what Malon had said the night before. "C'mon… you don't have to do this alone."

Link grimaced and looked at the ground for awhile. Sora just watched him. Eventually, Link's expression cleared and he nodded, sticking out his hand. Sora took it and they shook.

"Alright, it's a deal. Where are we headed first?" now that the talking was out of the way, Sora was eager for some action.

Navi started talking as the trio started back to the house, the sun rising behind them. "We already awakened the Sage of Forest and the Sage of Spirit. Next up is the Sage of Fire." Navi pointed at the mountains in the distance, one of which was billowing smoke. "Death Mountain, here we come!"

* * *

OK! The action starts here. This chapter is a little longer, but I started it knowing that my length would gradually increase.  
To those of you writing about how I've changed around things in the game, please remember that I am doing it on purpose. I know there are no Stalchildren in Adult Link's Hyrule but I put them in anyway. I also know I'm going out of order with the sages, but I really do have my reasons. Drop me a review and I might share some of them with you.  
On a slightly unrelated note, have you read the Manga Ocarina of Time? It's not canon, but I really love it. You should check it out. The Bandits Malon talks about are in there.

Review, and thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3. I did warn you all that it would be awhile between updates, but even I wasn't expecting it to be this long. However, I'm not going to promise that the next update will come soon, because that would be a lie. The next chapter will come when it comes. On the other hand, thanks to my more-than-one subscribers! I hope this is good. As always, send me your questions, comments and Flames, and I'll get back to you. Except for the Flamers. For you all, I've got a quiver of Ice Arrows with your names on them.

**DISCLAIMER**

Legend of Zelda is owned by Nintendo, NOT ME

Kingdom Hearts is owned by Square Enix and Disney Interactive Studios, NOT ME

Legend of Zelda; Ocarina of Hearts

Chapter 2

* * *

It was still mid-morning when the group left the Ranch. Sora, Donald and Goofy had been lent horses by Malon, who told them to "Take better care of them than Link takes care of Epona, or I'll make you pay when you come back!", though she said it with a wink, so Sora wasn't actually sure if she meant it. Besides, from what he could tell about horses, Epona looked fine. She and the other horses were restless to get started as they saddled up and mounted. Malon and Ingo were pressing supplies on Link, who only made a few half-hearted noises of protest. He finally joined them and mounted Epona. He looked at Sora with a question in his eyes. Sora nodded. "We're ready. Let's go." Link nodded and tapped his heels to Epona's flanks. She started off, Sora following on his horse. Behind him, Donald had elected to ride with Goofy after he discovered that not only did his horse not like him, but that his webbed feet couldn't reach the stirrups. He sat behind Goofy, muttering under his breath about murderous animals.

Sora looked back as they reached the path leading out of the Ranch. Malon was there, looking a little sad, but she managed a happy wave as she saw him looking. Sora waved back as they rounded the corner and she disappeared. He turned back and noticed Link looking a little glum beside him. Sora leaned over a little bit and tapped Link on the shoulder. "Hey, no frowns. She'll be fine; we'll see her again." Link smiled for a moment before looking ahead again. The group rounded the final corner of the Ranch's walls and Sora breath caught in his throat. It was his first time seeing the Field in daylight, and the first thing that struck him was the colossal magnitude of it. It stretched on forever, rolling hills of grass that never ended, larger even than the Savannah of the Pride Lands. Even the mountains in the distance looked smaller than before, though the cloud of smoke around the mountain range was still there.

Link gestured at the largest of the mountains in the distance. "Death Mountain."

"That's where we're headed?"

Nod.

Sora straightened in his saddle. "Well then, we better get going".

* * *

The group traveled all day, only pausing to rest their horses. It turned out that Sora was a decent rider, though his legs were beginning to cramp. Donald complained every other step that the journey was going to kill him. Goofy, surprisingly, seemed to be an expert rider, having no problem whatsoever with his horse. Link, of course, just continued on, giving no any indication of how he was doing.

Sora was a bit confused about the lack of Heartless. Normally, they would appear everywhere, continuously interrupting travel. When he brought this up, Navi answered his question. "We've only seen them in dungeons and places where monsters are. They seem to be attracted to the darkness around the monsters, so they don't wander far from the dungeons." Sora found this to be a likely explanation. On other worlds, he was attacked everywhere, but especially in darker, spookier places. On a world like Hyrule, where the darkness was extremely concentrated, the Heartless would probably just stay where the darkness was strongest rather than simply wander around.

It was past noon when Link signaled a halt. They stopped by a small grove of trees, a river a short distance away. Sora slid off his horse, his legs beginning to protest. This horse-riding thing wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Nearby, Donald promptly fell off Goofy's horse and laid down on the ground moaning. Goofy dismounted right after, and though his foot got caught in the stirrup for a moment, he didn't seem to be feeling any ill effects. Sora decided to call him on it. "Goofy, don't you feel anything? We've been riding for hours!" Goofy looked confused for a second. "Gawrsh, I'm a knight. Riding is one of our specialties." It was Sora's turn to look confused. "But have you ever ridden a horse before?"

"Nope, but everyone knows that Knights can ride! It's in all the stories and stuff!" Goofy looked serious, and Sora couldn't tell if he was joking, so he shrugged and decided to just drop it and change the subject. "Alright, fine. Navi, what's Death Mountain like anyway?" Navi, who had been beside Link, flew over and began talking. "Death Mountain is this gigantic volcano with a dungeon inside. The volcano used to be pretty peaceful until Ganondorf came to power. He put some monster inside and since then, the volcano's been threatening to blow. Let me tell you, it's got the Gorons pretty worried, not to mention the people of Kakariko Village."

Goofy spoke up. "Now hold up just a second. I get the part about the volcano, but what are Gorons? And what's Kakariko Village?"

"Gorons are the race the live up in the mountains. They are these huge creatures that are really strong and tough. They eat rocks, and are pretty much like rocks themselves. We might meet a few on the way up the mountain trail. Kakariko Village is the town at the base of the mountains. It's pretty much the last part of Hyrule that hasn't fallen to Ganondorf. We're not actually that far from it as we are… **HEY! **Link! How soon till Kakariko?" Link jerked up where he had been feeding Epona a carrot and gestured. "Not long."

"Great!" Navi turned back to Sora. "So we're probably not more than an hour away from Kakariko, so we'll probably replenish supplies there before heading up the mountain later today, or tomorrow morning if we can get room somewhere." Sora turned to Donald, still passed out on the ground. "Alright! Come on, Donald! We're not far! Let's make it fast!" Donald groaned as he sat up. "Goofy, you're going to have to help me up there. Knights might be good at riding, but magicians aren't." Goofy chuckled as he lifted Donald into the saddle then mounted up himself. Sora mounted up as well, wincing as he settled back into his saddle. Yep. If Kairi or Riku ever suggested getting a horse, he would slug them. Well, not Kairi. Just Riku. Yeah, that sounded like a good plan.

* * *

The group rode into Kakariko, as Navi had predicted, no more than an hour later. The city was quiet, but it didn't have a deserted feeling to it. It sort of reminded Sora of the reconstructed areas of The Radiant Garden. You could see evidence of trouble such as boarded up houses, but there was still a serine feel to the town as a whole. Shops were open, and there seemed to be an aura of security around the entire village. When Sora looked at Link, he thought that even he seemed a little more at peace. "Is this where you live?" Sora's question startled Link out of his reverie. "No. But this place…" Link gestured, at a loss for words. "…it's just good. Peaceful". He turned as they all followed him to a stable, where they paid for their horses to be looked after. Sora noticed that the currency of this world was a collection of different-colored gemstones. Navi called them Rupees, and told him that each colored stone was worth a different amount. According to Navi, you could find them anywhere; underground, in the bushes, underwater, in the bellies of monsters… if you knew where to look, you would never be poor.

Sora followed Link as he walked up to a shop to restock on supplies. The potions here were insanely expensive, but they apparently healed you completely, mind and body, much like an elixir. Link bought arrows and bombs, while Goofy bought himself a new shield. The shopkeeper called it a Hylian Shield, telling Goofy that it was the standard type that had been used by the old Hylian Knights. Finally, shopping done, the group reconvened at the entrance to the mountain road. The sun was still pretty high in the sky, so they decided to start the hike up rather than spend the night in Kakariko. Sora privately thought Link just wasn't used to spending lots of time with other people, but he didn't bring it up. With one last look at Kakariko Village, the group started the trek upwards.

* * *

The mountain road was long, winding, and dangerous. The group was attacked frequently by giant jumping spiders (Navi called them "Tektites") and had to repeatedly leap out of the way of falling rocks. Still, Link said they were making good time, and it wasn't more than an hour later that they came over the crest of a hill and spotted the large stone walls of a city. Link paused at the top and pointed. "Goron City. We'll find the way up to Death Mountain Crater in there". Without another word, he started down into the city.

As Sora walked into the city, a profound feeling of emptiness hit him. The city wasn't in ruins, like Castle Town, but it was completely deserted. There wasn't anyone in sight. The city was a large cavern built into the mountain, with four levels to the ground. There were large boulders scattered around, evidence of earthquakes that had broken the rocks out of the wall and ceiling. On cue, a large tremor shook the ground, and Sora heard Donald's shriek of panic. He whirled around, Keyblade in hand, to see one of the boulders shifting, shaking, standing… up?

"Brother. It is good that you have returned." If rocks had voices, this would be it. The voice that spoke was slow, rumbling, and powerful, almost more felt than heard. The boulder turned around and revealed itself to be a large, stony creature, taller than Sora and much wider. Its craggy face broke out in a smile, revealing tombstone-like teeth. "We have hoped that you would return. Who are your companions?"

Link gestured at Sora, Donald and Goofy. "These people have experience with the shadows in the Fire Temple. They're going to help with the final part of the Temple".

Gorons? Sora understood what Navi had said earlier. "Pretty much like rocks" indeed. Looking closer, Sora could see that, while many of the boulders scattered around the city were just stone, a few were just rolled up Gorons. The city wasn't deserted at all; the citizens were just very still.

The Goron was speaking to Link. "We are glad you have come back. We are missing our Big Brother. We still have heard nothing from him".

Donald leaned over to Sora and spoke quietly. "Who do they mean by 'Big Brother?' Is there a Goron even bigger than this one?" Donald chuckled at his little joke, and Navi turned to him. "To answer your first question, The Big Brother is their Chief, Darunia. He went into the Fire Temple by himself to rescue some captive Gorons from the monsters, but hasn't been seen since. To answer your second question, yes there are bigger Gorons. Darunia is pretty big, but he's nothing compared to others. We met this one Goron, Biggoron, who's as big as a mountain, literally! Like, I'm not even joking!"

As Donald gaped at that revelation, Link turned to Sora. "Death Mountain is incredibly hot. Most people will pass out after only a few minutes of exposure. Will you guys be ok?"

Sora nodded. "Donald can do some awesome stuff with his magic. I'm sure keeping us cool will be no problem. Right, Donald?" Donald shook himself and nodded. "Sure. It will be a breeze to keep us cool. You need it too, Link?" Link shook his head and pulled a piece of red fabric out of his pack. "This will keep me cool." He ducked into a corner as Navi explained. "That's the Goron Tunic! It keeps you cool with no problem, and is even a little fire resistant! I'm not completely sure how it works, but Link won't have any problem."

Link came out with the tunic on instead of his green one. It looked just like his normal outfit, but was red. Sora had a sneaking suspicion that Link and Navi were playing an enormous joke on them. Talking rocks and red tunics. Sora turned away and shook his head. Nearly as crazy as Wonderland.

Link led the group down a flight of stairs and through a hole in the cavern. The hole led them through a tunnel and into a nicely furnished room with large symbols on the walls. A large statue had been moved out of the way, showing a hidden tunnel behind it. They went through the tunnel, up some stairs, and emerged out into the open air again, near the lip of the volcano crater. The air was warmer up here, but not by much. The group followed Link to a set of stairs carved into the volcano leading downward. Link turned to them, a silent question in his stare. Sora nodded. "Let's do it". Link nodded and led them into the crater.

As soon as they stepped inside, Sora nearly recoiled. The temperature had skyrocketed instantly. Sora felt like he was in a furnace. The air itself seemed like it should be on fire. It was a dozen times worse than Agrabah. Sora briefly likened it to Axel setting him on fire, but worse. As Donald cast his spell however, the heat receded until Sora just felt warm, rather than blistering. Sora wiped the sweat off his face and looked at Link incredulously, who wasn't showing any effects of the heat. Link tugged at the fabric of his tunic in response and continued downward.

The group reached the end of the winding path that had been inside the crater. Sora guessed that the sun was setting by now, but the bubbling magma illuminated the area enough to see clearly. Or it would, except for the smoke everywhere. Link led them through a tunnel and paused at the end. Sora looked around as he emerged. The tunnel had widened into a small cavern, with an enormous stone door on one side. The door was flanked with torches, with the whole thing giving off a peculiar feel. Even with the heat, Sora shivered. There was darkness behind that door, make no mistake. Navi flew into his face. "**HEY!** That's the Fire Temple. Me and Link want in there and rescued the captive Gorons, but we had to retreat after your Heartless things started showing up. This time, we're going straight to the head monster, so be ready! You got all that?"

Sora nodded, and Navi flew over to Link's head. "**HEY! **They're ready! Let's go!" Link half grimaced at the noise in his ears and walked up to the door, shoving it open, Sora, Donald and Goofy following him.

* * *

The Temple was massive, with side tunnels, bridges and doors to the left and right, but Link ignored them all, focusing instead on the single massive door in the middle. The door was covered with chains, with a single lock keeping all the chains on. Link dug into his pack and pulled out a large, ornate key. He started forward, but there was a flash of darkness and Link was halted in his tracks, unable to approach the door. He turned back to the group and looked at Sora with a question in his eyes. Sora nodded and stepped forward. "Yeah, we handle this all the time. Let me get this door". Sora summoned the Keyblade and pointed it at the lock. A beam of light shot out of the Keyblade, dissolving the barrier and simultaneously vaporizing the lock. With nothing holding them on, the chains all slid off the door, allowing it to open. Link gave Sora a questioning look, and Goofy spoke up. "Ya know, it's not called the Keyblade for nothing. It can unlock just about anything". Link looked a little perplexed for a moment, but eventually shrugged and walked forward. Sora followed, ignoring Navi's incessant questions about his Keyblade as he moved forward into the next room.

The room was a simple circular platform with magma all around it. The platform was dotted with holes that constantly shot out little bits of rock and smoke. As the group walked forward, the bridge they had been on suddenly sunk into the magma, leaving them stranded. Sora had been adventuring long enough to know a trap when he saw one, and summoned his Keyblade. Link, Donald and Goofy followed suit, pulling out their weapons. The middle hole started bubbling more violently as a roar suddenly shook the cavern. Two things happened simultaneously. An enormous dragon burst out of the hole, shrieking violently, and shadows suddenly gathered, Heartless materializing out of nowhere. Sora turned to Link and saw Navi speaking frantically in his ear. Link nodded and sheathed his sword, turning to Sora, shouting over the dragon's roars. "You get the Heartless! I'll take Volvagia!" Sora nodded, briefly wondering how Link knew the dragon's name, until he realized that Navi must have told him. He spun around to Donald and Goofy. "Come on! Let's get these Heartless!" With a shout, Sora charged towards the Heartless, Donald and Goofy right behind him.

The battle progressed. Sora ducked, leapt and spun, Heartless dispersing in his wake. All of the Heartless seemed to be themed towards fire, so Donald had no trouble casting Blizzards all over the place. Goofy broke in his new shield, using it, not exactly how the old Hylian Knights had, but effectively nonetheless. Sora caught glimpses of Link's battle as he tracked down Shadows and Red Nocturnes. The Dragon seemed to have gone to ground, and Link was bashing it on the head with a large hammer whenever it came out of the holes in the platform. Besides a few smoking parts of his clothing, he seemed to be doing well.

Sora turned back to his own battle, but was knocked in the head by Navi. "**WATCH OUT! **Take cover! Volvagia's coming out!" Sora turned back and saw the dragon completely emerging from below the platform, shrieking as it flew upwards towards the ceiling. The blows with Link's hammer seemed to have dazed it, as it kept knocking into the walls, dislodging rocks. It seemed to be going into its death throes. Sora killed the last Heartless and looked around. "Are we done?" Link wiped sweat off his brow and leaned on his hammer. He nodded, but Sora still felt the darkness around him. "I don't think…" he was interrupted by Volvagia shrieking, not in anger or pain, but fear. Sora looked up and saw that the monster was snared in a web of darkness, thrashing about as the shadows surrounded it. The Dragon struck back against the darkness, but in its weakened state it was quickly engulfed in darkness. Its shrieks broke off, and were suddenly replaced by a powerful roar that sounded more like a Heartless. The dragon, now covered in black flames, landed near them and roared again. It was bigger now, with a mane of shadow instead of fire. Its eyes had changed color, going from blue-green to yellow. Goofy gaped at it. "It's been consumed by the Heartless! Now it's a Heartless too!" Donald, upon hearing that, jumped into action, casting a Blizzard at the Volvagia Heartless. It regarded him for a moment, then struck faster than anyone could react, knocking Donald cold. Sora gasped as he felt Donald's heat protection spell wearing off. He turned to Link. "Link! We have to finish this quick! Our heat protection is going to go any minute!" Link nodded and brandished his hammer at the Heartless, making it recoil. Sora charged, but the heat was becoming more intense as he approached the Heartless. His knees started trembling at the effort of standing, and Sora backed up, looking around desperately. The only thing that he saw was Link's red tunic against the blackness of the Heartless.

_Red…Huh._

Sora forced himself upright and looked at Goofy. Goofy, understanding what Sora was about to do, backed up and nodded. Sora concentrated, concentrating energy within himself. He felt Goofy's energy and seized it with a cry of "Give me Power!"

The area around Sora exploded as he felt a rush of power surging through him. When the energy settled, Sora stood in red and black clothing, fleur-de-lis imprinted on his arms and legs. Sora summoned Oathkeeper and Oblivion to each hand as he sprinted forward in Valor Form. Behind him, Goofy collapsed next to Donald, all of his energy given to Sora.

Sora jumped and struck the Volvagia Heartless with a blow that knocked the creature to the ground. Sora landed and immediately began a rapid combo, both Keyblades landing powerful blows that kept the monster stunned. Sora struck all over the monster's body, Oathkeeper and Oblivion cutting through the darkness. Link charged in again, striking the monster's head with his hammer, each blow sending shockwaves through the air, ground, and monster's body. After only a few seconds, the darkness around Volvagia started receding, and patches of the dragon's scales became visible. Finally, the darkness broke away from Volvagia and started receding, but with two simultaneous blows, Sora obliterated the darkness as Link drew his blade and struck Volvagia's head clean off. The monster shuddered and its body burst into flames, burning it down to the skeleton, which dissolved into ash, while the darkness dissipated into nothingness. A glowing portal appeared in the middle of the platform, and a large figure appeared in it. A Goron with spiky, rocky hair stepped out of the circle and engulfed Link in a bone-crushing hug. "Link, my sworn brother, thank you! You have saved the entire Goron Race". Link, gasping for air, dislodged himself from the Goron, clutching his ribs. "Darunia? You're the Sage of Fire?"

"I am indeed". Darunia turned to Sora and gestured. "Come, Link's friend. We must leave this place before the heat overwhelms your companions. You should remain in red, as Din's power protects you". Sora, not really understanding what the Goron was saying, nodded and grabbed Donald and Goofy, heading for the portal. He stepped inside with his friends slung over his shoulders, with Link, Navi and Darunia to his sides. The Portal started glowing, and they disappeared in a flash of light.

The group materialized inside Goron City, on the topmost center platform. Amid the startled cries of the Gorons, Sora laid Donald down and dispelled Valor form. Goofy sat up quickly, blinking. "Gawrsh, we did it!" Next to him, Donald started mumbling something through his unconsciousness. Sora leaned closer to hear Donald muttering "Bliz…Bliz…" Sora's eyes widened and he dropped to the ground, pulling Link and Goofy with him while shouting "Everybody take cover!" He covered his head as Donald suddenly awoke with a cry of "BLIZZARD!", shooting ice in every direction. Sora stood up as Donald seemed to realize where he was. "Sora? How'd we get here? What happened to the Heartless? Why is there ice everywhere?" Sora clapped Donald on the shoulder as Goofy started laughing. "Donald, you missed out on a bit. Long story short, we won".

* * *

Alright, a few words again.

As always, any changes with the games are intentionally there to work with the plot.

Every time you read the Goron's speech, please go and put in Small Caps. It worked really well for the Gorons, but the website won't accept it, and Full Caps makes it sound like they're yelling, so I couldn't do that.

My idea of Munny is that is becomes whatever currency that the world uses. For example, it would change to doubloons in Port Royal, and Rupees in Hyrule.

I have always wanted to see Goofy with a Hylian Shield. Enough said.

I've made Hyrule Field much bigger than it is in the game, to give it a more world-like feel.

As always, please review and tell me what I'm doing right and wrong.


	4. Chapter 4

Lefty is back, and he's brought chapter four with him. To all reviewers and subscribers: thanks, and I hope this chapter is good. Please review and tell me what I'm doing right and wrong. Next update will come whenever it comes.

**DISCLAIMER**

Legend of Zelda is owned by Nintendo, NOT ME

Kingdom Hearts is owned by Square Enix and Disney Interactive Studios, NOT ME

Legend of Zelda; Ocarina of Hearts

Chapter 4

* * *

The party lasted well into the night. It had good reason to; the Gorons were finally free of the terror of Volvagia. Of the Heartless there was no sign; they had cleared out with the rest of the monsters in the Temple. There were still Sages to awaken and Heartless to purge, but for now there was peace on Death Mountain.

The Gorons threw great parties, Sora reflected later. There had been roaring bonfires, music, songs, dances and food. Admittedly, the music leaned towards a lot of percussion, and the food was tough to chew, but it wasn't bad. Link had wanted to depart immediately, but the Gorons wanted him to stay, and if Sora had learned anything about Gorons, it was they didn't take no for an answer. Link was, at the request of the Gorons, reenacting the fight with Volvagia in the middle of the group while Sora and Darunia watched from the sidelines and Navi narrated.

"So, anyway, the dragon had just gone under the platform, when his head popped out one of the holes and Link raised the… **HEY! Listen! **Raise the hammer over your head, Link!" Link groaned a little but complied as Navi continued. "Anyway, he raised the hammer over his head and BAM! He clobbered Volvagia's skull! Go ahead, Link, just… whoa… **Watch Out!**"

The hammer came down on the ground, generated a minor earthquake and knocked everyone off their feet. When the dust cleared, there was a crater a foot deep in the ground with Link standing in the middle, as red as his tunic. This did little to dissuade the Gorons, who just got up and started cheering all the more. Beside Sora, Darunia sat himself up and gave a booming chuckle. "That is my brother. He never seeks the spotlight, but it finds him anyway".

Sora stood up. "I don't really get that. Your brother?"

Darunia chucked again and patted Sora on the back, nearly knocking him back down. "He is my, and the entire Goron race's sworn brother. He saved us from starvation years ago, clearing our caverns of monsters and killing King Dodongo. He will always be welcome as one of us".

Sora massaged his shoulders and thought about this new information. In the distance, Donald was impressing the Gorons with conjuring techniques, while Goofy was showing off some sport he knew.

Sora's thoughts were interrupted by Darunia's voice. "It is good that Link obtained the Megaton Hammer. I sense that he will need it in his future travels". Darunia turned to Sora and grinned, again showing his gigantic teeth. "It is also good that he has found friends to accompany him. He will need your assistance in the end as well".

Sora grinned. "We'll do our best, but so far it's us who've needed his help". Darunia chuckled again. "Nevertheless, you will be needed." He turned away for a moment, his expression suddenly pensive. "As a Sage, I have been granted many truths. even if you do not come from this world, it is no doubt the will of the Goddesses that brought you here."

Sora almost spat out his drink. "How do you know about other worlds? This is supposed to be a secret!" Darunia simply laughed again, patting Sora's shoulder and sending him sprawling. "I am the Sage of Fire" he said, still laughing as Sora picked himself up, rubbing his abused shoulders. "I know much. Things that were formerly secret wilt under my power."

"Do you know where we should go next?"

Darunia became more serious. "I have heard rumors of trouble in the Domain of the Zoras, and Lake Hylia. Link has already been there and should know more, but he is reluctant to return."

"Why is that?"

Darunia's face became softer and he chuckled again. "It is not my place to say, though the story is amusing. You might be able to get it out of Link as you travel. And now," The Goron stood to his full height "I must find what sport your friend is teaching my brothers. It looks fun." With that, Darunia strode over to where Goofy was still busy teaching wrestling basics to the eager Gorons.

* * *

Sora woke to Link gently tapping his shoulder. He sat up, yawning as he looked at Link. "Are we out of here?" Link nodded and pointed to where Donald and Goofy were still asleep. "You get them, meet me by the entrance." He started walking, his boots making no noise as he skirted sleeping Gorons. Sora went over to his friends and woke them softly, for some reason feeling that he should be silent as he did so. They gathered their belongings and crept up stairs, occasionally taking detours when they found the entire path blocked by bodies. They found Link at the entrance, where he ushered them over with quiet gestures. "We're leaving early so the Gorons won't wake up with us still here. That would be bad."

Sora grinned. "Is being noticed really that scary for you, Link?" Link looked at him flatly, with a face that said "yes, it is", but he said quietly "we don't want to be caught in the middle of a Goron farewell."

Sora blinked. Maybe he was still dreaming, because Link was talking way more than usual. He blinked again and realized that they were missing someone. "Wait, where's Navi?"

Link frantically held up a hand to quiet him, but it was too late. Navi emerged out from under Link's hat. "**HEY! **Are we leaving already?"

Silence.

Then Link's quiet "dang it."

"What is this? Our brothers are leaving without a proper farewell?" Darunia's voice boomed through the cavern, as Gorons all over began stirring. "We cannot have that! Our brothers deserve a farewell to remember, and only we Gorons can give it to them! GORON HUG!"

"Run." With one word, Link turned and bolted for the tunnel leading out of the city, leaving Sora Donald and Goofy standing, trying to mentally catch up with present events. Suddenly, a vision sprouted in Sora's mind: Darunia hugging Link back in the Fire Temple. He vividly remembered hearing Link's back and ribs cracking. His mind flew back to the present and he saw the wave of Gorons approaching them, arms outstretched.

Oh. No.

He turned to Donald and Goofy, grabbing their arms. "RUN!" Sora fled towards the exit, dragging Donald and Goofy behind, a horde of Gorons right behind them. They ran out of the city, catching up with Link, who had paused to look back for a moment. "You could have explained why we needed to leave!" Sora yelled as they all picked up the pace. Link yelled back as Gorons began dropping from the higher cliffs, or rolling past them at high speed "There was no time! I was going to explain after we escaped!" Sora dodged the outstretched arms of a Goron as they rounded a corner in the mountain trail. "How did you know this would happen anyway?"

"They tried to do this last time I left!"

"Did you get away that time?"

"There were only four, and it was still close!"

"Brother Link! Brothers Sora, Donald and Goofy!" The group paused for a moment and looked back. There was Darunia, with pretty much the entire Goron race behind him. He grinned and laughed, a great booming sound that could be felt as much as heard. "Be well on your journey, and may the Power of Din protect you!" He laughed again and the entire mountain burst into cheers that could probably be heard in Kakariko Village. Sora looked back to Link and saw him wipe his face. He could have sworn there were tears in Link's eyes, but there wasn't anything there when Link turned to them and gave a half smile. "Those are my brothers. Let's go. Lake Hylia is waiting."

* * *

The sun still hadn't dawned by the time they entered Kakariko Village. It had taken them awhile to ascend the mountain, Sora remembered, but it was amazing how fast you could descend when there was a mob of Gorons behind you. Though the buildings were still dark, the village was still showing signs of life as people were getting up and shopkeepers were preparing to open. Link led them to the stable where he had left their horses and was greeted by bleary eyed owner. As Link and Navi quietly conversed with the stable master, Sora leaned back and thought about the journey so far. In the course of a few days, they had already been attacked by Heartless and monsters, climbed up mountains and into volcanoes, met with talking rocks, and killed a dragon. Now they were on their way to a lake to wake up another Sage. Sora sighed. As great as this all was, he still wished Riku and Kairi were here with him. The whole journey would be so much better with his best friends around. Sora could imagine Kairi getting hugged by a Goron, or Riku fighting Volvagia alongside him and Link. Sora sighed again. Too bad there were so many worlds, and only so many Keyblade wielders. They had been journeying together, but this latest influx of Heartless had split them up. Sora sighed again. He really missed them.

Sora started as Link tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, you told me no frowns. You'll see them again". Sora smiled reluctantly. "Yeah, I-wait! How do you know about them?" Link paused, looking up from where he was counting arrows. "You're face is really easy to read. Now come on, we need to get out of sight." He led them and their horses down an alleyway, and pulled out a small, blue potato shaped instrument.

"Aren't we supposed to be going to Lake Hylia?" Donald asked as Link polished the instrument a little. "Not going down alleys and playing music?" Link smiled a bit, but his only response was to put the instrument to his lips and play a short tune. Then, suddenly, there was a blue light and everything was gone, suddenly replaced with a giant crater. Sora blinked and whirled. The entire scene had changed from a somewhat cramped alley in a town to a small spike of land jutting up from a gigantic bowl in the earth. It was probably fifteen to twenty feet to the bottom of the crater, where there was a small puddle of water. Sora looked up and received a shock. He could recognize Death Mountain by its ring of smoke, but was far away.

Really far away.

Really, really, really far away.

Sora whirled on Link. "What just happened? We were over _there_," he pointed to the mountain in the distance, "and now we're over _here_, and we didn't move at all, but everything else moved and now we're in the middle of a crater when you said we were going to a lake, and if you say that puddle's a lake I'll say you're insane , and-" He was broken off by Goofy grabbing him. "Sora, you don't need to freak, ya know. We've gone through portals and stuff before, remember?" In Goofy's firm grip, Sora collected his thoughts and calmed down a little. "Right, but we've never teleported because of a _song_ before. What is that anyway?" He pointed at the instrument that was still in Link's grip. Link held it up. "This is the Ocarina of Time. It's an artifact passed down by the Royal Family of Hyrule".

"Now hold on a second." Goofy appeared deep in thought. "If that's an artifact of the Royal Family, and you have it, does that mean you're a prince or something?"

Link's expression became a little distant. "No. I was given it by… Someone".

Now it was Donald's turn to be serious. "Who?"

"Princess Zelda."

A new voice spoke from behind Sora, making him whirl around. The speaker was leaning against the tree, seemingly without a care in the world. He was a young boy with golden hair and red eyes, dressed in tight blue clothing with a strange emblem on his chest. Strips of fabric obscured the boy's face and head, not letting Sora see more than one eye. The boy glanced at Sora, and then looked past him at Link. "I've been waiting, Hero of Time".

"Sheik." Link's voice at a strange tone to it; he seemed simultaneously excited and cautious. Sora had never heard him speak with so much emotion in his voice. "The Sage of Fire has been awakened."

Sheik nodded. "I heard. Congratulations. We are one stop closer to defeating Ganondorf." Sheik pointed down at the puddle of water. "She is already inside. I suggest you and your…" he paused for a moment and gave Sora a strange look. "…companions make haste to follow." Sheik started backing up, but Link called after him. "Wait! Is she still safe?" Sheik paused and looked at Link, sadness in his visible eye. "She is still hidden away. She is still safe. She still waits for you. Take comfort in that, Hero." With that, Sheik threw something on the ground, causing a bright flash. When Sora looked back, Sheik was gone. He looked at Link. "Who was that?"

Link, who had been looking around, sighed. "He is Sheik, last of the Sheikah race. He's been assisting me to find the Temples and Sages." He sighed again, and then looked down. "Anyway, we should go. If she's inside, she's not going to want to be kept waiting."

"Sheik was talking about a girl too. Is the Princess inside the Temple?" Donald asked.

Link gave a rueful smile. "No. Only Sheik knows where Princess Zelda is. Sheik was talking about a different girl inside the Temple."

"Well, who is this girl?"

Link replied with a completely straight face: "My fiancée, Ruto of the Zora Tribe."

* * *

Apparently, the Temple was under the lake, but pretty much anyone could get to it now. Navi had explained to Sora that the Lake was completely dried up due to some kind of monster in the Temple. They were now inside the Water Temple, which, like the Fire Temple, took its element seriously. Even if Lake Hylia was dried up, the Water Temple still had whole levels that were completely submerged. Donald had used his magic to allow the group to breath underwater, like Atlantica without the transformations. Link had again declined Donald's magic pulling out another tunic, this one blue. Sora decided against trying to figure out how a change of clothing could give you gills, simply chalking it up to magic. Whatever.

He and Donald were now on floor wherever, in room who knows, fighting another group of Heartless in the hardest maze ever created.

"Seriously, how are we supposed to get up to the other floor?"

"What do you mean the water doesn't rise that high?"

"Who designed this place? I'm going to kill them!"

"How'd you get up there?"

"I HATE THIS PLACE!"

"Yes, Donald, I heard you the first dozen times." Sora gave a sigh as he reentered a room for the fourth time, Heartless springing up yet again. Sora was pretty sure they had gone through the entire Temple a dozen times, somehow missing the room they needed to go to again and again. They had fought untold numbers of monsters and Heartless, both seeming to come back every time they left a room. They had flipped switches, changed the water level, unlocked doors, flipped more switches, and killed thousands of enemies, yet they were still no closer to the end of the Temple than when they had entered, or so he thought.

"**HEY! **Link and Goofy found something! Come on!" Navi had been assigned the task of "messenger" between the two groups when they had split up. Somehow, she had no problem finding each group and relaying messages. She called it her "amazing navigational abilities". Sora called it a bad pun mixed with good luck.

Sora and Donald followed Navi to the main room of the Temple, where they found Link and Goofy raising the water level as high as it would go. "Found something?" Sora asked as they swam up and lifted themselves up to dry ground. Link nodded. "If we get the water all the way up, I think I can reach that opening up there." Link had introduced Sora and the others to his Hookshot; an amazing little device that acted like a spring-powered grappling hook. By anchoring the sharp end into something, Sora and the others could walk up the chain to areas they couldn't reach just by jumping. Link would then retract the chain, dragging himself up with it. It was quite an amazing tool, one that Sora resolved to see if Cid could replicate next time they met.

Using the Hookshot, the group finally managed to get to a new area. Before them stood a plain locked door, which was no obstacle for Sora. The group stepped inside the room, which was…odd.

They were standing in the middle of a light mist. The mist extended through the entire room, giving no indication of how big the room was. There was a small island in the middle of the room with a tree on it. There was a door standing in space on the other side of the room. As the group walked forward, they noticed two things. First, there was a small amount of water on the ground, giving the impression of walking through an endless ocean. Second, the room was completely empty. There was no sound except for the group's splashes as they walked through the inch-high water.

"What is this place?" Sora finally broke the silence, and was shocked at how his voice sounded. It echoed forever into the distance. Link looked around, his hand tightening on his blade. "Something's wrong here. Stay sharp."

The group walked past the tree in the middle, heading towards the door. It was barred shut. There was no lock, no keyhole. It just wouldn't open. After pondering the door for a while, Link finally turned to the rest of the group. "There's some kind of puzzle in here. We solve the puzzle, the door opens." Sora nodded. This had been the standard for the Water Temple so far. "So, do we split up again?" Link shook his head. "There's some trick here. We need to stay together in here."

The group cautiously walked back into the water. There didn't seem to be anything weird about the room, besides its innate weirdness. However, Goofy noticed it first. "Gawrsh, Link, you don't have a reflection!" it was true. While the rest of them, even Navi, could see themselves in the water, Link cast no reflection on the surface below them. Link looked around, until his gaze settled on the tree. Sora heard him say quietly "Ok. I understand now." He walked closer, and then got into his now familiar fighting stance. Except, Sora couldn't see anything but the tree. "Um, Link, are you feeling- WHOA!"

Without warning, a dark figure stepped out of the tree's shadow, sword drawn. With a jolt, Sora realized that the figure looked just like Link. It had the same clothes style, the same appearance, and the same weapons. Sora quickly thought back to Neverland, where he had fought his own shadow. Link was now going through the same thing. Sora quickly looked at Donald and Goofy. "Come on! We need to help out!" charged forward but were stopped by Link's yell. "No! This is my fight. I need to do this alone." With another yell, Link swung his blade at the Shadow, who countered with his own blade. Reluctantly, Sora stood down as Link and Dark Link began to fight.

The fight was fast-paced and completely even. Every time Link attacked, Dark Link would do the same. Every time Dark Link swung, Link would block with his shield and try to counterattack, but bas blocked at every turn. Link was accumulating a collection of small cuts, while Dark Link still seemed completely fresh. Still, Link pressed on. His sword still moved faster than Sora could believe, much faster than when they had sparred together at Lon Lon Ranch. Still, Dark Link remained untouched.

Then, disaster. Link thrust his blade as Dark Link, who did nothing to block it. Suddenly, he hopped lightly, Link's blade now underneath him. With no effort, Dark Link landed on the blade's flat and stood there. Link kept his blade outstretched, partly out of shock, partly out of exhaustion. Without any warning, Dark Link swung his sword downward at Link's shoulder. Link's tunic and chainmail did little to stop the blade as it sliced through the fabric and metal links, cutting a deep gash in from shoulder to belly. Link cried out and stumbled, dropping his shield and thrusting his sword into the ground to stop himself from falling over. Dark Link had leapt off the blade and stood in front of Link, his head tilted slightly, as though confused why Link hadn't yet fallen over. When Link made no motion to stand or fall, Dark Link raised his blade for a final strike at Link's head. Ignoring Sora's cry, Dark Link swiped downward.

Time slowed. Link's hand made some sort of sign. As Dark Link's blade swung down, Link ducked lower and thrust his hands into the ground. A small ball of fire spread out from where Link had hit the ground. Then, as time seemed to speed back up, the small ball of fire rapidly spread out, hitting Dark Link and blasting him backwards. Link stood up and grabbed his sword with both hands, readying himself as Dark Link ran forward, still on fire. As Dark Link jumped up, preparing to split Link in half, Link unleashed a powerful spin attack at his counterpart. The spin caught Dark Link just outside of his range, cutting him cleanly in half. His top half fell back with a single cry and fell to the ground, while his legs simply landed from their jump and toppled over. Sora leapt forward as Link nearly collapsed, staying on his knees by willpower alone. As Sora and Donald raced towards Link, Goofy slowly walked towards the remains of Dark Link. Sora knelt by Link, already noticing how much the water was stained red. "That was really cool and really stupid. Why wouldn't you let us help?" he started searching for a potion while Link grinned, probably in delirium. "Just…seemed like the…right thing to do." he paused and coughed, spitting blood out into the water. "Needed to…do it myself."

Sora just shook his head and examined Link's wound alongside Donald. The chainmail had been more effective than Sora had thought, but Dark Link's sword had still cut through the majority of Link's right side. Donald was already pouring potions on it to clot the blood, but the wound was still massive. Luckily, the chainmail had stopped the blade from going deep enough to hit any organs, but Link was still bleeding to death.

Link spoke up, weaker than before. "In…my bag…bottle…" Sora reached into link's pack and somehow immediately found the bottles. Pulling them out, he found one filled with small bugs, one full of green potion, one with a pink ball of light, similar to Navi, and the last… "Is this a ghost?"

"Poe soul. Get…the fairy…out."

Sora quickly uncorked the bottle and the fairy flew out, circling Link. Sora and Donald watched in astonishment as the wound began closing itself, along with healing Link's other cuts and bruises. Then, the job apparently done, the fairy flew upward and disappeared. Link stood up with a grunt, already looking stronger than he had seconds ago. His wound wasn't completely healed, but it looked days, if not weeks old. "There. That should hold me until we're out of this Temple." Donald just gaped in astonishment. "Wait! How did that fairy DO that? Can Navi do that? Why'd it just fly off?" Link just sighed and pulled his sword out of the ground, motioning to Navi to explain. "That was a red fairy, meaning that it can heal people like that! I can't do it cause I'm a Forest Fairy, got it? After the fairy is done healing, it goes back to a Fairy Fountain to get its energy back! Got it?" Donald nodded, his shock slowly wearing off. Idly, he looked around to see what Goofy was doing, just in time to hear a loud clang. Everyone whirled and looked at Goofy, who was standing whistling with his shield out by the top half of Dark Link's body, now sans head, which was now melting into the water. "He was still breathing…" Goofy said, a little too innocently. Sora just looked away as the body melted into the water, staining the area around it black. It looked just like the area around Link, except Link had turned the water red. Whatever Dark Link had been, Sora felt no pity for it.

As Dark Link finally dissolved away, the room started shifting, with the mist receding and showing walls. Before Sora could really see the changes, it was done, with the room now looking completely ordinary. Only the blood in the water remained as evidence of what happened. The bars on the locked door receded with a click, leaving the path completely open. Link sheathed his sword with what Sora thought was a completely fake grin, though the fact that he was grinning by itself was a step up. "Well. That was easy. Let's keep going." He walked to the door and opened it, with Sora muttering behind him. "If that was easy, I don't ever want to see hard."

* * *

It seemed Dark Link was the last real test between them and the Boss of the Temple. The next few rooms were devoid of puzzles, traps and hard monsters. There were only smatterings of Heartless in each room which were easily taken care of. It was almost as if the darkness in the Temple had just given up after the destruction (death?) of Dark Link. Regardless, it wasn't much longer until they stood by the large, chained door, just like the one in the Fire Temple. With a glance at all of his friends, Sora pointed his Keyblade at the door, dissolving the lock and letting the chains fall to the ground. The group entered the room, which consisted of a large pool of water with a ring of stone around it and small platforms in the water itself. Everything seemed quiet, but there was a menace that made the hair on Sora's neck stand up. Something was watching them, of that there was no doubt.

"Look out!" Navi warned them as they approached the pool. "That isn't normal water over there!" Sora didn't see anything wrong with the water, but it was true that the foreboding feeling seemed to be coming from underwater. He turned back to Link, Donald and Goofy, shrugging. "There's something in…the…" he trailed off as he saw the horrified looks on his companion's faces. He spun back around just in time to see a giant tentacle form out of the water. He jumped back just as the water tentacle whipped where he had been moments before. "Only one?" Sora joked as they drew closer together. "This will be easier than fighting Dem-" He was stopped as another tentacle formed. Then another. And another. Soon, the pool was nothing but a writhing mass of dozens of tentacles. Sora gulped. OK, maybe this would be a bit harder than fighting Demyx. He looked back at Link, Donald and Goofy. Link was listening to Navi's frantic words, gripping his sword tightly, Goofy was putting on his brave face and Donald was looking at the water like it had personally insulted him. Sora grinned. Well, they couldn't get any more ready than this. With a fierce cry, he charged.

* * *

It was impossible. Every tentacle they cut just melted and formed again, usually while they weren't looking. Sora couldn't tell if they were doing any damage at all. Even evaporating the water with large fire spells just made it rain little tentacles. Sora wasn't anywhere near his limit, but he was getting frustrated at the lack of damage showing on the water. Goofy, Donald and Link were faring no better. Donald was shooting magic everywhere, sometimes evaporating the water, sometimes freezing it. Link had his Hookshot out and was searching for something in the water, nimbly dodging everything that came his way. Goofy was sticking to his tried and true "bash things with his shield" method, scattering water droplets everywhere. And yet, nothing was happening! Sora grit his teeth in frustration and pain as another tentacle stung him. This was getting annoying! There had to be a weak point, or-ak point, or-" Th

"**HEY!"**

Or, Navi could finally make her way over to him. He'd take it.

"**LISTEN! **This is Morpha, Master of the Water Temple! It has absolute control of water! Pull out its nucleus and attack it!"

"It's nucleus? Where is it?" Sora's thoughts were interrupted by Link's Hookshot going off. As Sora looked over, he noticed that Link had speared a little round mass of flesh, and was trying to swipe at it as it attempted to hop back into the water. That must be the nucleus. Sora gestured at Donald and Goofy. "Help Link attack that thing! It's the weak point!" Donald gave a quack of triumph and sent a bolt of lightning straight at it. Unfortunately, a tentacle of water got in the way and took the shock itself, blowing up when the bolt hit it. Sora started towards the side the nucleus was on, halting as Link went flying past him into a wall. Apparently, link had been so fixated on the nucleus, he had missed a tentacle sneaking up behind him until it was too late. The tentacle grabbed him, bashed him into walls, then threw him across the room. As Link got to his feet, Sora was shocked to see fresh blood soaking his tunic. His wound he had received from Dark Link must have reopened. Link looked at him and shook his head. "I'm fine! We need to get that thing quick!"

Sora looked around at the battlefield. The nucleus was back inside one of the tentacles, moving too fast to be hooked again. The tentacles simply reformed when hit by physical attacks, and blocked magic attacks with their own forms, protecting the nucleus. So, they needed some way of getting through all the tentacles at once…

Sora came to his conclusion. "Goofy! Protect Donald! Donald! I need you!" Donald and Goofy, seeing what Sora had in mind, nodded, Goofy getting closer to Donald. Sora closed his eyes and felt his energy. He then spread out and searched for other energies. First he felt Goofy's powerful, red signature, but he ignored it and locked on to Donald's calm, blue energy. Seizing it, Sora drew it into his own body with a cry. "Give me Wisdom!"

An explosion around Sora blew apart several tentacles that had been coming for him. The light faded and Sora stood hovering above the ground, his clothes changed blue with a flame pattern on the arms and legs. Sora, clad in his Wisdom Form looked up and regarded the tentacles coming at him. He pointed his Keyblade at them and smirked. "Let's go."

Just as the tentacles attacked, Sora sped to the left, his shoes hovering just above the ground, friction no longer an issue. He sent bursts of magical energy at the tentacles, riddling them with holes. Water or land no longer mattered; Sora sped over both surfaces like an ice skater, flipping over and ducking under tentacles that slapped at him, his eyes peeled for the nucleus. Sora spotted it and sent a blast of lighting at it. Once again, a tentacle stuck itself in front, protecting the vulnerable mass. "Ok, then" Sora muttered to himself. "Let's see you block this!" He summoned his and Donald's magical energy, then gave it all to a thunder spell. Bolts of lightning shot down from everywhere, hitting every tentacle simultaneously. The water boiled as the lightning hit it, evaporating everything it touched, filling the room with dense fog. Still, Sora could see the nucleus, devoid of its watery protection flopping around the ground like a fish. Sora targeted and sent a hail of magic towards it. The magic hit it hard, sending it flying through the air.

Right onto Link's waiting blade, skewering it.

There was silence for a moment. Then with a feeling like the rushing of air, Morpha's nucleus burst into water, which hit the ground and immediately dried up. The water in the pool started churning, as if being sucked down an invisible drain pipe. Sora dispelled Wisdom Form and looked at Donald, who was just waking up. Donald looked at him with pride in his eyes. "We did it, Sora!"

"Yeah." Sora self-consciously rubbed the back of his hair and grinned. It had been a tough battle, but the Water Temple had finally been cleared of monsters and Heartless. A glowing portal appeared at the bottom of the now dry pool, and a figure stepped out of it. She was a strange fusion of human and fish, with fins on her arms and legs, webbed feet and a larger head than a normal person. She regarded Link with a smirk. "So, Love, you're a terrible man for having kept me waiting these seven long years…"

Link's face twisted into something resembling panic. "Ruto?" you're the Sage of Water? The woman Sora realized was Link's fiancée smiled lovingly at him. "Yes, I am. Unfortunately, that means that, while you'll always have my love, we unfortunately can't be wed. I understand how heartbroken you must be…" Link certainly didn't look heartbroken. He looked like he had just been named the Olympus Coliseum Champion. Ruto looked over at him, and he quickly assumed a sufficiently heartbroken expression. "Yes, um, terrible" Link muttered, trying to keep his face mournful. Sora nearly burst out laughing, but that would have ruined the moment. For now, he was just glad they had finally gotten through this Temple. They were almost there. Just one Sage to go.

* * *

Finished. These chapters are getting longer and longer. Someone tell me if you guys prefer longer chapters or if I should break these things up.

Yes, I can imagine Donald getting upset with the Water Temple's layout.

I've always liked using magic while in Wisdom Form. It looks so much more powerful than usual.

Again, please substitute the Goron's text with Small Caps.

The fight with Dark Link was one of my favorite parts of Ocarina of Time. I really hope this does it justice.

Sheik, (SPOILER ALERT) will be playing a more major role in the next chapters than in the game, so be ready.

As always, any skewing of the game is completely intentional, especially the layout of the Water Temple.

Review to tell me what's right and wrong, especially grammar or spelling mistakes. See you later.

Lefty out.


	5. Chapter 5

I have returned, and I have brought chapter 5 with me. Same story; updates will come when they come. For those of you who have given reviews without me responding, the internet was doing funny things that prevented me from just messaging you, so here are my responses:

**Music Fantasi: **Thanks a lot. As requested, here's more.

**Moon Princess016:** I hope you're spelling test went well. Thanks for the cookies (I hope they're GF, because I'm allergic to wheat) and yes, I did think of that. I can say no more on that for fear of spoiling.

**-SoManyUpsAndDowns-: **Thanks so much for the typo corrections. Kairi and Riku will make brief appearances at the very end, but they're on other worlds right now and won't be in the main plot.

**Kimmy-1016** and **A wonderful life: **Thanks, I will.

**Danthemanwithaplan7: **I also appreciate Navi for what she does, even if she gets a little overbearing at times. I tried to capture her as she is in the game, where she does talk often. Mostly I've used Navi as Link's voice, since he doesn't talk much.

Hopefully the internet will let me just respond to your reviews next time. If I didn't respond to you, tell me so.

**DISCLAIMER**

Legend of Zelda is owned by Nintendo, NOT ME  
Kingdom Hearts is owned by Square Enix and Disney Interactive Studios, NOT ME

Legend of Zelda; Ocarina of Hearts

Chapter 5

Sora stepped out of the portal from the Water Temple, Link, Donald and Goofy close behind. Ruto had given them a lot of grief, but had eventually "granted her permission" to leave. They were all in need of a good rest before setting out to tackle the next Temple, but as soon as they stepped into the bright sun, Sora's mind was forcefully diverted from resting.

Lake Hylia was full of water. The destruction of Morpha had broken the curse on the lake and it had refilled while they had been talking to Ruto. It now stretched out as it should, a vast horizon of deep blue that reminded Sora of Destiny Islands. He walked to the water's edge, dipped his hands in and let the water trickle out from between his fingers. More than killing Morpha, more than saving the Gorons, even more than waking the Sages, this was proof that they were saving the world. Only a few hours ago the entire area was a desolate crater; now the entire lake was coming back to life.

"It's beautiful", Sora murmured to himself. He was startled by an answer right next to him. "Yes, it is." He turned and saw Sheik standing, looking out at the water's surface. "All of Hyrule was like this before Ganondorf. Gradually, it's becoming like it was." Sheik turned and regarded Link. "You did it. Well done." Link smiled a bit and started walking forward. "Yeah, we…" Anything he was going to say was cut off as he toppled forward without warning, landing face first on the ground.

"Link!" Sora jumped up and ran to his friend, who hadn't moved. He knelt by Link, noticing a growing stain of red on the white of his undershirt. He rolled Link over and inhaled sharply; the wound Dark Link had given him had reopened in the fight with Morpha, and Link hadn't done anything about it afterwards. Sora suddenly thought back to after they had defeated Morpha. Link had just stood there; bleeding out while Ruto had talked on and on, not telling anyone that he was slowly dying. Good grief; not even Riku was this self-destructive, and he had been the **bad guy**, for crying out loud.

Sora opened his pockets and pulled out another potion while Donald started preparing a cure spell. Sheik knelt down by Link and examined the wound. "What did this to him? I've never seen him hurt this badly."

Sora had his mind on other things, so he waved to Navi to explain. Navi, glad to do something, was perhaps a little more verbose than she needed to be. "So, we were in the Temple, in this misty room, and there was Link's reflection, only it was more of his shadow (there's not much of a difference anyway, in my opinion), but anyway Link decided to fight it by himself, only the shadow was just as good as he was, so…" Sora tuned out the rest, focusing on pouring the potion on Link's wound. He didn't need a play-by-play account; not when the event was still fresh in his mind. Link's sword going forward, his shadow jumping up and standing motionless on the blade, Link paralyzed by shock and exhaustion, Dark Link's blade coming down, the nonstop blood…

No. Sora didn't need a summary of that fight. Link had seemed invincible up until now; the strong, silent figure who led the way into Temples and always knew just what to do or where do go. Even after nearly getting bisected, he still had the strength and will to defeat Dark Link and Morpha, one after the other. Now he was laid out on an island in the middle of a lake while his companions tried to stem the flow of blood coming from his chest.

"…And after that, Dark Link was still on his feet, so Link picked up his sword-"

Sheik interrupted Navi's monologue. "Enough, thank you. We need to focus on getting Link to some kind of shelter. He started untying the wrappings on his hands, clearly intending to use them for bandages. Sora idly noticed that Sheik had smaller, more delicate looking hands than he would have expected. Sheik noticed Sora's stares and handed him the wrappings. "Here; this should be enough for now. I'll call your horses; none of us are strong enough to carry Link without jolting him." He stood up and pulled out the small harp that was slung around his back. He quickly plucked out a simple tune, the same that Sora remembered Link playing on his ocarina back when they first met him. Sheik's notes were almost immediately answered by the sound of multiple hooves. Epona came into sight, leading Sora and Goofy's horses with her. She stopped, nostrils flaring, at Link's side, pawing nervously at the smell of blood. Sheik rubbed the mare and spoke softly. "There, it's ok. You need to stay calm, or Link's going to have a rough ride to the shore. Steady, steady…" under Sheiks soft strokes and calm words, Epona gradually silenced. Sheik turned back to Sora, who had just finished wrapping up Link with the bandages. "We'll get him up here and take him to shore. There's an old abandoned house on the lake shore; we can stay there."

With Sheik assisting, Sora and Goofy managed to get Link up on Epona. He didn't look heavy, but he was more muscled than he looked and his chain mail added another thirty pounds. However, they managed to get him up on his horse without any serious jolts and started walking, taking the rope bridges that led to the mainland.

Halfway to shore, Link stirred in his saddle, sliding to one side. Sheik, who had been walking next to Epona, reached out and caught him just in time. Link's eyes opened and he looked at Sheik with as much surprise as he could muster. "Sheik? You're…still here?" Sheik pushed Link upright, assuming a joking tone as he did so. "Apparently so, Hero. Your little stunt has managed to keep me around for a little longer." Link grinned, and tried to use the same joking tone. "Would have gotten…wounded a lot earlier… if I knew you would stay around." He swayed and Sheik caught him again, concern coming through his voice despite his attempt to keep the tone light. "Careful, Hero. We just got you up there; you're not allowed to fall off until we get to our lodgings."

Link grinned again; Sora observed that blood loss was making Link much more talkative.

* * *

They camped the night in the old abandoned house on the edge of the lake. The roof had collapsed in places, but it was dry and warm enough once they got a fire going. Most importantly, it was easily safeguarded against monsters and Heartless, which meant that the group didn't have to look over their shoulders the entire evening. Donald and Goofy quickly gathered firewood and started a blaze in the remains of the stove. Sheik took care of the horses while Sora got Link out of his mail shirt to examine his injury closer. The potions and spells were working well, but it would be a week at very least before Link would be up and moving again. He still slipped in and out consciousness. When he was awake, he talked so much that Sora suspected he had been hit on the head in addition to his other injuries. He protested up and down about the treatment he was getting, constantly engaged anyone close in nonstop conversation, and kept trying to escape out the window when no one was looking, only to pass out as soon as he sat up. He was currently propped up against the wall, hands and feet tied together with rope from Sheik, playing his ocarina. The soft sound sent waves of emotion through Sora, though he couldn't identify it as joy or sorrow. Probably some mix of the two.

"Hey Link? What was that song just now?" Sora sat up against a wall, the rest of the group sitting similarly. Donald and Goofy were already dozing off, and Sheik was in the corner of the room, almost completely invisible in the shadows. Only his red eyes reflecting the fire showed that he was still awake.

Link took the ocarina from his lips, becoming quieter than he had been all evening. "It's called Zelda's Lullaby."

"It's beautiful."

Link nodded. "It reminds me of her. It's a song of hope."

Sora sat up a little more. "You've met her, right? What's she like?"

Link shifted, unsuccessfully hiding a grimace of pain as he strained his wound. "I met her seven years ago. She was beautiful, spirited, optimistic…" Link shook his head. "I would have never told her then, but I was instantly attracted to her. She gave her friendship easily and willingly. Then…" Link dropped his head in shame. "She was gone, and Ganondorf had taken over Hyrule. If I had been faster, better, I could have gotten to her in time, protected her-"

"No." Sheik had leaned forward, engrossed in the conversation. "Ganondorf would have killed you in an instant. Don't forget that the Princesses' bodyguard was defeated as well. If the greatest of the Sheikah couldn't defeat him, there's no way you could have."

"I failed her!" Link voice rose in its conviction. The last I saw of Zelda was her and Impa riding away. Now, she's in hiding and Ganondorf is in power because I opened the door to the sacred realm and gave him the Triforce! I couldn't even get the Master Sword without helping him!" Link sank back, head in hands. "She trusted me, she confided in me she befriended me… and I failed her."

"Enough." Sheik's voice became harder. "You can't blame yourself for what's happened and the Princess wouldn't either. She still believes in you and you still haven't let her down. You've done more for Hyrule than anyone in existence, save the Goddesses themselves." Sheik's voice became softer, and Sora leaned in to hear him. "You can't think like this. You've done so much good already. I'm sure if the Princess were here, she would be telling you the same things." Link remained silent and Sheik continued. "You said the Princess gives you hope. Remember her, and have hope for the future. The past is done, the sun has set; all we can do now is move toward the dawn."

Sora spoke up. "He's right. Blaming yourself only makes it harder to see the light. I know that personally." Sora's thoughts turned to Riku, who had struggled for so long in the dark simply because he couldn't let go of his guilt. "In all the time I've been with you, you've done nothing but good. Even if something happened because of your actions, all you need to do is make it right, which is what you're doing. No one can blame you for anything."

Link let out his breath sharply. "They should. The only thing I'm good for right now is holding us all up. I can't imagine the Princess not being angry with me for how slow I'm going."

Sheik spoke again, barely above a whisper. "She doesn't. She knows you're doing all you can, and she couldn't ever blame you. If anything, she's to blame. She could-should have done more to halt Ganondorf before he seized power, while she still had authority. It was the failure of her plan that led to the fall of Hyrule."

"What?" Link looked incredulously at Sheik. "There wasn't anything more she could have done. Ganondorf caught everyone off guard; she did the best she could-"

"Exactly!" Sheik cut Link off. "She did the best she could! Now you're doing the best you can! If you can forgive her, you can forgive yourself!" Link opened his mouth to reply, but paused. When he didn't reply, Sheik continued. You're blaming yourself for the same things you're forgiving the Princess of. You need to forgive yourself before you do anything more."

Link spoke, more softly now. "You really think the Zelda doesn't blame me for all this?"

Sheik's voice became softer as well. "I know so."

Link shifted again. "It's just… I don't know what I'll say when I meet her again. Next time I'll meet her, she'll be the reigning monarch, even if she is deposed. How do you talk to someone that high above you?"

Sora spoke up. "You were friends when you were younger, right? Friendship doesn't just go away. Even if you haven't seen her in a while, you should just walk up and say 'Hey, Princess. Sorry I'm late; I overslept for seven years'."

Sheik let out a sudden snort of laughter, which he unsuccessfully tried to stifle. Even Link couldn't hide his smile completely. Sora grinned unabashedly at both of them. "Well, it's a thought. If you want to come up with something better, be my guest."

Link rolled over onto his side. "Thanks, guys." Sora smiled again. "Hey, anything to get you feeling better." Link grunted and slowed his breathing. Within moments, all the tension went out of his muscles and he relaxed, completely asleep. Sora could stay asleep though anything, but getting to sleep that quickly was impressive. He turned to Sheik, who was still sitting in the shadows. "Thanks for helping him like that". Sheik might have shrugged, but the movement was lost in the darkness. "All of Hyrule is depending on him. He is the Hero of Time; the entire burden rests with him. I only wish I could do more."

"Do you really think the Princess would say all that?"

"I know she would."

Sora shifted into a more comfortable position. "I was actually wondering something about the Princess. Link doesn't talk much, so I was hoping you could explain." Sheik was silent, and Sora took it a sign to continue. "Link said that Ganondorf took the Triforce seven years ago and took over Hyrule. I just don't understand how something like the Triforce could do all this, or how the Princess could see it coming, or how the Triforce even came to exist." Sora looked up at Sheik. "I feel like I've started reading a story at the halfway point instead of the beginning."

Sheik looked at Sora silently. "It's a long story."

"We're not going anywhere for a while."

Sheik sighed. "All right. But I need to start from the very beginning. Listen closely."

So Sora listened. He listened as Sheik told a story about three Goddesses. How they created the land of Hyrule and everything that lived on it. How they departed into space, leaving behind a fragment of their power: the Triforce.

Sora listened all through the night as Sheik talked about the civil war that split Hyrule apart. How the Ruling Family eventually established justice and peace throughout the land. He talked about the men who tried to seize the Triforce for their own means. How the Triforce was eventually sealed away in the Sacred Realm to prevent any from taking it. He talked about the Gerudo tribe, whose members lived far out in the desert. He talked about how the tribe was made up of all women, a single man being born into the tribe every hundred years. How that man was destined to become king of the Gerudo. The man with dark skin and flaming red hair; the King of Thieves: Ganondorf.

Sheik talked through the next day, while Link slept and the rest of the group busied themselves with gathering wood, training, cleaning or resting. He talked about a boy brought to the forest and raised there as a member of the Kokiri race. How destiny eventually intervened and sent the boy around Hyrule, collecting the spiritual stones needed to open the door to the sacred realm and retrieve Triforce before Ganondorf. How, when the boy broke the final bond and drew the Master Sword, he was sealed inside the sacred realm for seven years until he was deemed worthy. How the seal finally shattered and the boy awoke to his destiny as the Hero of Time: Link.

Sheik talked that evening as they sat around the stove, while Link pretended to sleep, about a girl born into the Hyrulian Royal Family. How she was given the gift of foresight by the Goddesses and saw the destruction of her land in a dream. How she saw a boy clad in green and accompanied by a fairy come to her bearing the spiritual stone of the forest along with the news that the Spirit of the Forest was dead. How she sent the boy to collect the other two stones in the hope that they could beat Ganondorf to the Triforce. How, as she awaited Link's return, Ganondorf struck and seized the kingdom. How she fled, throwing Link the Ocarina of Time as she sped past. How, for the past seven years she's been in hiding, waiting for the Hero of Time to awaken and restore peace. How she could emerge as the Princess of Hyrule: Zelda.

Sheik's story gradually drew to a close. He talked about the Sages of Forest and Spirit who Link awakened before the Heartless arrived. He talked about the cruelties Ganondorf inflicted on the races of Hyrule. He talked about the Domain of the Zora's being completely frozen over, their spiritual guardian driven away. He talked about the resurrection of the spiritual being of fire, Volvagia, and its taste for Goron flesh. He talked until there was nothing left to say; until the story came to the present. Sora had listened attentively the entire time, interrupting only to ask questions. Sheik was a master storyteller; just listening made Sora feel like he was actually there, in Gerudo Valley, Kokiri Forest or the Zora's Domain. Sheik spoke as if he had been there when the events actually occurred. They now sat, quietly, as the embers in the stove slowly died down.

Goofy spoke first. "Gawrsh, this is big. The whole world depends on us beating up the Heartless so Link can go after Ganondorf. That's a pretty tall task."

"But nothing we can't handle" Sora asserted. "Yeah, everything depends on us, but this isn't the first time. We stick together and there's nothing we can't do!" he turned back to Sheik, still seated in the shadows. "Thanks for that. I really feel like I know what's going on now." Sheik shrugged. "Think nothing of it. The more you know, the easier it will be to defeat Ganondorf. We should all get some rest now, though we still won't be moving for a few more days. We can use that time to make plans for the last temple, eh, Hero?"

This last bit was directed at Link, who had been feigning sleep during Sheik's talk about Zelda. He grunted, not pleased that Sheik had seen through him so easily. When Sora had checked on his wound it was looking better, but was still pretty bad.

* * *

Sora woke to the sounds of a scuffle. He sat up quickly to find Sheik on top of a tunic-less and bandaged Link, holding him down as he tried to stand up.

"I said no!"

"And I said I'm fine! Get off!"

"Not until you sit back down! You're wounded!"

"I heal fast! Let go!"

"Not that fast!"

Sheik noticed Sora and beckoned to him, still struggling to hold Link down. "Sora, help me out here!"

Link snorted and stood, ignoring Sheik still hanging on to his back. "Look!" he said with barely contained frustration. He tugged at the bandages on his torso, unraveling them. Sora was shocked to see that the wound, barely closed just a day ago, was now just a large scar, stretching from shoulder to hip. Sheik stepped around and gazed at the scar with his visible eye wide. "How… how is that possible? "

Link shrugged as he grabbed his chain mail and tunic, unhindered by Sheik. "You tell me. All I know is that I'm the Hero of Time. Sleep isn't really an issue, and wounds heal fast. Now," he said as he finished belting on his sword and various bags, "can we go, or are you all just going to stand there?"

Sora shook his head slowly and looked at Sheik. Sheik shrugged and started to pack. "He's not taking no for an answer, so we gain nothing by sitting here. Besides, it's a half day ride to Kakariko, so we might as well get started." He hefted his saddlebag and moved to the door.

The group left the shores of Lake Hylia just as the sun was breaking the horizon. Link had reverted back to his silent self, but he was definitely more cheerful now that they were finally moving. It took less prodding to get him to respond to questions and he sometimes supplied his own information without being asked. At Sora's prompting, he was currently recounting how he had met Princess Ruto inside a giant fish.

"So I finally track her down inside Jabu-Jabu only to find that she won't leave! I had to convince her to leave with me!" Link paused for a moment in recollection. "She finally agreed to go, but…Navi, what were her exact words?"

"She said, and I quote: 'Then I will give you the honor of carrying me!'" Navi said, sounding almost exactly like Ruto. The rest of the group laughed, but Link shook his head. "It's funny to think about, but just try to wade through waist deep ooze and fight monsters while carrying a squirming, complaining princess above your head the whole time!" This time he couldn't stop the laughter that engulfed the rest of the group, and he even smiled a little at the memory.

"So Hero," Sheik still had a smile under his mask; "was that easier or harder than getting through the Lost Woods?"

Link groaned a little at the memory. "Still harder, but not by much. The Lost Woods aren't hard to find your way through as long as you remember to count your turns. They're not as bad as the Haunted Wasteland was."

Sora spoke up. "The Haunted what now?"

Link turned and answered. "The Haunted Wasteland. Beyond the Gerudo Fortress to the west lies an immense desert with constant sandstorms raging. Legend says that the souls of those lost still reside there. I only saw one spirit while passing through, though, so I can't really comment on the truth of that."

Sora became silent, deep in his thoughts, and, gradually the conversation veered to other subjects.

The group reached the Stairs leading to Kakariko Village just past noon. As they approached, Sora became aware of the smell of smoke. A quick glance at his companions told him that he wasn't alone in noticing this. Sheik, at the head of the group, nudged his horse to greater speed, with the others following suit. They climbed the stairs quickly and rounded the bend to the road to find a scene of devastation.

Sheik stared in horror. "Din, Farore and Nayru…"

The town was burning.

Flames came from every rooftop and building. Smoke billowed up, fully covering the sky with a thick cloud of grey, Death Mountain completely obscured. The smell of smoke was everywhere, as was the oppressive heat. Villagers ran to and fro, carrying belongings away from the houses or buckets of water towards them.

Link simply stared, hollow-eyed at the destruction. "This… the only place that was untouched… now…"

Sheik grabbed Link's shoulder bracingly. "We can't stop what's happened, Hero. But we can help out now, and we can stop this from ever happening again. We need to get to the well."

Link shook his head, and when he looked up again there was determination in his eyes once more. "You're right. Let's go."

The group started running towards the well Sora briefly remembered seeing the last time they were here. "What's at the Well?" Sora called ahead.

Sheik responded as they ran. "My mentor, Impa, once sealed a great Evil inside the Well; A malevolent spirit of great power. When Ganondorf came to power, the seal was weakened; now I fear that it's broken completely-" Sheik was interrupted by Link tackling him to the ground as a Darkball flew through the air where Sheik had been moments before. Donald gave a cry and sent a blast of magic at the Heartless as it rounded for another charge. As Link helped a blushing Sheik to his feet (how did Sora notice that he was blushing?), the shadows caused by the fires rippled and elongated, Heartless forming out of the darkness. Sora summoned his Keyblade and twirled it through the air. "Link, Sheik, you get to the Well! We'll take care of the Heartless!" Sheik nodded and started running with Link; Sora, Donald and Goofy on both sides of them, beating Heartless out of the way. The very sight of the Keyblade made the Heartless focus on Sora, ignoring Link and Sheik as they steadily drew closer to the Well.

The group had reached the stairs that led to the Well when a rush of air blew past Sora. He spun to see what had caused the disturbance, but there was nothing. No shadowy Heartless, no glow from a Stealth Sneak's eyes, nothing at all. The only sounds that Sora picked up were the rush of air and an already fading sound of…drums?

He turned again as Sheik screamed, a high pitched sound of pain. Sheik had been lifted off the ground and was floating in the air. However, there wasn't anything holding him. He was simply floating without any visible means of support. To Sora's horror, however, Sheik was suddenly jerked in the air, like something was grabbing and twirling him like a ragdoll. His jerking didn't last long, however, as he was suddenly tossed, making a gentle arc in the air before landing not-so-gently on the ground, where he didn't move.

"Gawrsh!"

"Ack"

"Sheik!"

Sora, Donald and Goofy ran and knelt by Sheik. Link however, didn't move an inch. His head was cocked slightly, his ears hearing something that Sora couldn't pick up.

Sora turned Sheik over and felt for a pulse. There was one, thank goodness, and it was strong and regular. At that moment, Sheik started to stir, moaning slightly as he crept back into consciousness.

At the same moment, Sora became aware of a gigantic shadow flowing over the houses and hills. Sora could now clearly hear the sounds of drums echoing through the town. Link walked in front of Sheik and raised his shield high in front of him, his sword at the ready, his stance mimicking when he had met Dark Link's final charge.

"Link…no…" Sheik tried to move, but only managed to raise his arm in a hopeless gesture. Link simply stood his ground and didn't respond. The shadow started up the same path the group had taken, moving rapidly towards them. The sound of drums echoed everywhere, gripping Sora's heart with terror. He tried to ready himself, but found himself unable to stand, paralyzed with fear, Donald and Goofy in the same predicament. He could only watch as the Shadow moved closer and the drums got louder…

Sora couldn't help it. He closed his eyes. Everything went silent.

Link screamed and hit the ground.

* * *

So, that's chapter 5. If I don't get angry rants about cliffhangers, I obviously didn't try hard enough.  
Anyway, some notes about the chapter:

Yes, The chain mail tunic that Link wears should weigh about thirty pounds.

The old house on the shore of Lake Hylia is completely made up; I just needed somewhere where the group could rest and hear Sheik's tale.

My opinion on Sheik's gender (**SPOILER ALERT**)  
Sheik is female, but he is disguised as a boy, and should be referred to as such.  
Let me tell you: I was writing the last part of this chapter on autopilot and had to go back dozens of times to change Sheik's gender from female to male. Whoops.

In person, I'm really not a very talkative person. But after surgery on my hand, I reportedly came out singing. Drugs do that. They did it for Link too. Which explains that he's not acting out of character when he's talking a lot; he's on medication.

Anyone have a problem with Link healing that quickly? In Majora's Mask he can go days without sleep, so I really think he's made of tough stuff.

Chapter 6 will come when it comes. As always, drop me a line to tell me what I did wrong, and especially where my typos are.

Thanks.


	6. Chapter 6

I'm not going to waste your time up here; you've already waited two and a half years. Go to the end for comments and disclaimers on the chapter.

Ocarina of Hearts: Chapter 6

* * *

Sora opened his eyes.

The shadow was gone. The only sound was the crackling of flames. Sora pushed himself to his feet and looked around. The Heartless had departed as quickly as they'd appeared, with no trace of them remaining. Sora started as someone put their hand on his shoulder, but it was just Goofy, with Donald standing close by. "Gawrsh, that was spooky," Goofy spoke what all three of them were thinking. "That shadow thing was almost as bad as them ReDeads."

"Yeah…" Sora shook his head, trying hard to keep the memory of the ReDead's shriek from making him go weak at the knees again. He looked around, noticing that their group was alone in the street. "Wait; where's Link and Sheik?"

Donald pointed further up the street. "Link got thrown that way, and Sheik followed as soon as the shadow had disappeared. Why didn't it go after us, anyway?"

Sora shook his head in confusion. "I have no clue. Maybe it didn't recognize us as enemies or something." Donald snorted. "Then that's the last mistake that thing will ever make!" Sora smiled, already lifted up by his friend's spirits. "Yeah! Now let's get over there and see what needs doing."

The group ran in the direction Donald had pointed and soon came across Sheik helping a dazed looking Link sit up. He looked up as the group approached. "Good; you're up and moving again. How do you feel?" Sora grinned and gave them a thumbs up. "Oh, we're fine. More importantly, how are you two? You both took the brunt of the attack."

Link stood, Sheik slightly supporting him. "We're fine. No need to worry; it was more embarrassing than anything." He swayed and Sheik moved to steady him, but he caught himself immediately. "Really, I'm fine." Sheik didn't look convinced, but he let the matter drop. "If you say so, Hero."

"I say so." Link sheathed his sword took out the Ocarina of Time. "Now to deal with these fires." He blew a quick ascending tune and thunder sounded above them. Through the smoke, rain started coming down in torrents, quickly dousing the fires around them. Sora looked around incredulously. Was there anything that thing couldn't do?

Sheik looked with approval and took out his harp. "Don't put away that Ocarina yet, Hero. There's still one song I can teach you. This is the melody that will draw you into the infinite darkness that absorbs even time… Listen to this, the Nocturne of Shadow!"

That didn't sound too comforting. Sheik played a slow, haunting melody, with Link following along on his ocarina. The song sounded a bit chilling, Sora thought, but the duet was beautiful. No sooner had Link finished playing it than a great gust of wind came up and spun around the group. Sora, remembering what had happened before, closed his eyes. With a sudden flash of light the ground underneath the group shifted. Sora opened his eyes and saw that the group, minus Sheik, was standing on a platform emblazoned with the Triforce. In front of them was a long and downward sloping tunnel. Behind them stretched an extensive graveyard. Link stowed his Ocarina and started toward the tunnel. Sora called after him. "Hey, isn't Sheik coming with us?"

Link turned back to look at the rest of the group. "Sheik never comes into dungeons with me. I hoped he would this time but…" Link trailed off into silence and continued walking, Sora, Donald and Goofy following close behind.

The tunnel eventually leveled out and broadened into a sizable room filled with unlit torches. A large stone slab emblazoned with the same eye symbol that Sheik wore blocked the path onward. Link stared for just a moment and then stepped up on the small platform in the middle of the room. "You might want to stand back; this is going to get hot." Sora, Donald and Goofy, having seen this before, hastily took a few steps back. Link made a familiar symbol with his hands and punched the ground. Din's Fire burst from Link's hand, spreading outward and lighting all the torches in the room. The stone slab shifted and then started to rise.

"Congratulations, Hero," spoke a voice from behind Sora. The whole group whirled around to find Sheik standing there, arms crossed. Link seemed almost too shocked for words. "Sheik! I didn't think you were…" Sheik smiled under his mask. "I decided to tag along this time. This might be the most dangerous dungeon of all of them. You know as well as I the legends surrounding this place." Link smiled; a small, but genuine smile. "Thank you, Sheik. Let's go." He started into the blackness, taking a stick out of his pack and lighting it as he passed a torch. Sora, Donald and Goofy followed close behind, Sheik taking up the rear.

BREAK

Had Sora known what was inside the Shadow Temple beforehand and had a choice, he would never have gone inside. The dungeon oozed with evil and darkness. There were always things moving out of the corner of your eye, but they would disappear when you looked. There was a faint sound of chanting and drums in the distance that filled your heart with dread. Invisible monsters struck without warning. Yellow-eyed Heartless gazed at you from the shadows. The entire temple was your darkest nightmares made real.

The worst part? The group hadn't even made it out of the first room.

"You know, when I came in here, I was kind of expecting something like Halloween Town, you know?" Sora, Donald and Goofy were huddled close together, their weapons out in front of them, all three whirling around at the slightest noises. Link and Sheik, on the other hand, showed no outward signs of fear or trepidation. Link held his makeshift torch high, throwing shadows across the walls. His face showed nothing but determination as he scanned the area for clues or enemies. Sheik's mask concealed his expression, but his voice was perfectly calm. "Really? What's this Halloween Town like?"

"Well, at first it looks really frightening, but all the people who live there are actually really friendly. The whole place seemed scary at first, but it grows on you. Not-" Sora turned sharply as he heard the sound of claws on stone. After making sure that nothing was there, he continued. "-Not at all like this place. This place isn't getting any better."

"Nor will it." Link paused for a moment, looked closely at a wall, then walked straight through it, motioning the rest of the group to follow. "This place is unique in Hyrule."

"You said something about that outside. What did you mean?"

Sheik explained as the group walked into another room. "According to legend, the Shadow Temple was built to contain all the evil in Hyrule. The darkness of the world would be contained here, instead of being allowed to spread out over the rest of the world. This place was evil long before Ganondorf came to power."

Sora looked around again. "So this place is like a giant storehouse for darkness?"

"Exactly. Hyrule remains light and peaceful because the evil of the world is concentrated here. Of course, Ganondorf has thrown out the balance that the Shadow Temple maintained. His evil flooded the temple and spilled out into the rest of Hyrule."

Sora was about to ask another question, but Link held his hand up for silence as he stared closely at a door. Ignoring it, he went to the wall next to it and once again walked through. When Sora looked at the door, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. When he reached out, however, instead of a metal door, all he felt was the stone wall. "Um, Link? How are you seeing these things?" Link turned and tapped a small eyeglass that Sora hadn't noticed previously. It was small and purple with a tinted lens. Link was wearing it much like a monocle. "This thing is called the Lens of Truth. It's an old artifact that can see through any illusion, as well as other disguises. Sometimes I can even see through solid objects like treasure chests…Sheik, are you ok?" Sheik turned away, but not before Sora noticed that what skin he could see was blushing furiously. "Sure, I was just… Look out!"

Sheik dove to the ground as a squadron of Keese flew at the group, shrieking. Sora and Donald hit the first two with Blizzards and Link caught the other two with rapid shots from his bow. "This way." Link hurried the group through another fake wall and into another passageway. It wasn't until much later that Sora realized they had never gotten an answer from Sheik.

* * *

The group continued into the darkness. Gradually, Sora became almost used to the tricks the Temple played on them. If the passage looked too good to be true, it probably was. If the wall wasn't decorated with skulls or bloodstains, it was probably false. If the shadows seemed to writhe unnaturally (well, more unnaturally than usual) around the lights, there were Heartless about to strike. Likewise, he quickly learned to trust his other senses more than his sight. A swish through the air that sounded like a blade made everyone duck (Link later informed them that there was an invisible scythe above their heads). A sound like rushing wind meant there was a "Wallmaster", as Navi called it, coming down on top of them. The sound of flapping leather meant there was a squadron of Keese incoming. And more than all that, Sora learned to listen for silence; a sure sign that a trap was about to be sprung, almost as if the entire temple was holding its breath.

The group continued on through a sloped passage, leading them further downhill. Giant spiders kept coming down from the ceiling, and the Heartless grew thicker. Finally, the passage opened up into a spacious room with a dirt floor. Sora did a double take as he looked around the room. The entire room's walls and ceiling were made of skulls, all fused together. As the group walked forward, the door behind them abruptly shut, and metal bars slid down to lock the door in place. Sora whirled around and tried to open the door again, but it was no use. They were trapped in the room.

"Don't panic, Sora," Sheik turned and placed a reassuring hand on Sora's shoulder. "If the door locks like that, it just needs a trigger in the room somewhere to unlock. These temples were designed to be challenging to those who didn't belong, but not impossible." Sora swallowed his momentary surprise and turned back towards the room. In the back of his mind, he remembered the same thing happening in the Water Temple "Right, yeah, sorry. This place is just giving me the creeps. Let's find the switch; what will we be looking for this time, Link?" Link started walking forward, peering all around with the Lens of Truth. "Normally a crystal of some sort, maybe a series of them. You strike the crystal, the door unlocks. Sometimes there's a button on the ground, or some-" Link was cut off abruptly as something erupted out of the ground around him and grabbed him, holding him fast. At the same time, Heartless started pouring out of the shadows and attacked the group. With a shout of partial surprise, Sora quickly swung his Keyblade at the things holding down Link, severing them from the ground. His stomach lurched when he realized that the things were pale, sickly looking arms. Already, more were coming out of the ground, trying to trap Sora and his companions. Behind Sora, Sheik threw a long needle at a hand, spearing it against the wall. "Split up!" he yelled. "Keep moving around, and stay out of the reach of those arms!"

The group scattered, Sora and Donald throwing magic at the hands rising out of the ground as well as the swarm of Heartless that were still pouring out of the gaps in the walls. Goofy and Sheik went the other way, Goofy smashing Heartless out of their path, Sheik finishing them with a long dagger he had on his belt. Link went down to the center of the room, simultaneously listening to Navi at his side and slashing through the grasping arms and hands. As the group reached the other side of the room, Link called them all closer for a huddle.

"**HEY!"** Navi's voice was loud enough for them all to hear, even over the sound of the group defending themselves. "The real enemy is Dead Hand! Watch out for its infinite hands! Aim for its head!"

"It's head?" Donald yelled. "It doesn't have a head! There's only the ha-ACK!" Donald was cut off as one of the hands snaked out and latched onto his foot, holding him in place. Next to him, a large… _thing_… erupted out of the ground. It looked like a large, shapeless mass of flesh, with a long neck and head at the top. Blood and grime covered the whole thing, and it oozed its way over to Donald, drool dripping from its teeth. Navi bonked Donald on the head. "I told you to watch out for the arms! And I told you there was a head! **WATCH OUT!**"

Donald ducked just in time as the monster snapped its jaws where Donald's head had been a second previous. As the monster came in again it suddenly recoiled, screeching in pain. Sheik dove between it and Donald, throwing more needles into its open mouth. Sora sliced Donald free of the hands, and the group backed up from the monster. Dead Hand screamed again and retreated underground, out of reach of all the group's weapons.

On the other side of the room, Link and Goofy had met up and now stood back to back, facing down the Heartless around them, their Hylian Shields forming an impenetrable wall of defense as they steadily made their way over to the rest of the group.

The fight continued. The flow of Heartless gradually stemmed as the majority were cut down. The arms, however, seemed never-ending.

"This isn't getting us anywhere! Where's the head?" Sora yelled over the sound of their weapons clashing. Link looked over the arena with his lens, but before he could speak, a Heartless came out of the shadows and blindsided him, knocking him into the waiting grasping hands. As he struggled, Dead Hand again erupted from the ground, making a beeline right for him.

"Link!"

"Gawrsh!"

"Ack!"

Only Sheik reacted fast enough. As Dead Hand's head swung down, jaws open wide, Sheik jumped in front of Link and held up his arm. Dead Hand, instead of biting down on Link's neck, instead chomped down on Sheik's arm almost to the shoulder. Sheik let out a high-pitched yelp, but didn't move. The shoulder of his swallowed arm jerked, there was a muted flash, and Dead Hand was abruptly on its side, smoke streaming from its mouth, stunned. Sheik jerked away, cradling his arm, which was bleeding and smoking.

"Sheik!" Link tore himself free from the hands that held him in place and started toward Sheik, but the Sheikah held up his good arm. "I'm fine! Get Dead Hand; it won't stay stunned for long!" Link paused for only a moment in hesitation, then turned and jumped towards Dead Hand, his sword flashing down on its neck. The Master Sword cut deeply into its thick neck and it broke out of its frozen state, recoiling away from Link's follow-up strike. Link kept after it, but was stopped by the mass of hands still coming from the ground. He fell back, and Dead Hand again retreated underground.

Link ran back to the group, who were huddled around Sheik, protecting him from the few remaining Heartless still in the room. "We need to focus on Dead Hand! This needs to end now!"

Sora looked around the group. Sheik was out of the picture. Goofy was pouring a potion on his shoulder while Donald readied a cure spell. "I can get in close, but it keeps ducking underground!"

"I can get it to come up, but I don't have a way of keeping it up here!"

Donald looked up from his spell. "I can do that! Just get it up here!" Link nodded and turned to Sheik. "Sheik! How-" Sheik cut him off with a wave of his good arm. "Take your own advice, Hero, and get this done first! I think I'll survive that long!" Link seemed taken aback, but he nodded and turned, fishing a large orb out of his pouch. "Get ready, here it comes!" He threw the orb at the ground a good distance from the group. As it hit the ground, a fuse sparked to life on it, and Sora again had a fleeting memory of Jack Sparrow…

**BOOM!**

A loud explosion lit up the room as the bomb Link had thrown erupted into flames and shrapnel. Rising out of the explosion, Dead Hand was forced out of the ground, its hiding place violently destroyed. As it reared up, Donald lifted his stave and shouted a single word:

"**Stop!"**

Everything paused. Dead Hand froze, along with all its arms. The explosion from the bomb stopped. Dust hung motionless in the air.

Time stood still.

Sora dove as fast as he could through the tangle of frozen arms and jumped at Dead Hand. His Keyblade flashed as he swung it over and over at its frozen head. He only had a few moments before Donald's spell wore off; if he wasn't clear, the explosion would catch him as well. But if he didn't finish off Dead Hand now, it would simply fall back, and they would be left the same as before.

And Sheik would be in more danger.

Sora gritted his teeth and struck faster.

It was only a few seconds later, but it felt like Sora had been swinging for much longer when he felt the subtle shift in the room. He dove away just as time resumed and the fire from the explosion engulfed where Sora had just been standing. Dead Hand was buffeted away, all of Sora's strikes hitting it simultaneously, throwing its head around almost in fast forward. With a final shriek, it finally fell to the ground, its neck at a lopsided angle. Around it, all the arms also fell to the ground, as lifeless as their controller. The room grew still. Sora stood cautiously, but there didn't seem to be any more enemies. With a sudden click that made him whirl around, the bars on the door slid up and away, unlocking the door. Just like Dark Link in the Water Temple, the lock was tied to the life force of the monster; no life, no lock.

"Sheik!" As soon as Dead Hand had fallen, Link had rushed back to the injured Sheikah and knelt down beside him. Sheik was propped up against the wall, as Goofy and Donald wrapped bandages all up his injured arm. His breathing was steady, but he still winced under his mask every time his arm moved. "What in Hyrule were you doing? That thing almost took your arm off!"

"But it didn't, Hero. The plan worked fine."

"Except for the part where you almost got eaten!"

"Even that part worked. We managed to stun it long enough for you to get a serious strike on it."

"Blowing up a Deku Nut inside its throat doesn't qualify as a plan; that was too dangerous!"

"**HEY! **I guess most of our fights don't count as plans either, huh?"

"Please don't get bring that up, Navi."

As Link, Sheik and Navi argued back and forth, Sora took a closer look at Sheik's arm. The monster's teeth had bitten right under Sheik's shoulder, though with its flat teeth, it hadn't been able to bite too deep. Sheik's palm was also burned, probably from the Deku Nut he apparently had blown up inside Dead Hand. The potions and spells had worked well however, and Sheik didn't seem to be in any immediate danger.

"Enough," Sheik held up his good hand. "I did what was necessary, and I would do it again. I won't let you be the only one who takes risks."

Link stopped short, and after a moment settled down. "Your right. I'm sorry; I was just worried. You're…" He broke off, turned and abruptly walked away, looking around the room with his Lens of Truth. Sheik sighed and spoke almost too softly for Sora to hear. "I know, Link. I'm sorry."

"What do you mean?" Suddenly everyone was apologizing, and Sora wasn't completely sure why.

"Link is from a different time. Very few people know him in this time at all, much less remember him. All his past friends and acquaintances have moved on with life. Honestly, I'm one of his only connections to this world at all. Besides the Sages and me, no one else knows Link as the Hero of Time, or even as Link the person. Most of his quest has been completely solitary. "

Sora thought back on the few times he was alone on his journeys. First getting to Traverse Town, after the first Heartless attack. Wandering through Hollow Bastion as a Heartless. In none of his encounters had he ever been truly alone. His friends were always there by his side, backing him up and supporting him. From world to world, he had met and made new friends everywhere. He couldn't really imagine what it would be like to be truly alone on a journey like Link was.

But…

Link wasn't really alone either. Sora thought back to Malon, at Lon-Lon ranch, willing to help Link in any way she could. The Gorons up on Death Mountain called him "brother". And Navi was always right there beside him, right? Maybe Link had to shoulder the burden of being the Hero, but he wasn't alone. Especially not anymore.

"Hey Link!"

Startled, Link looked at Sora from across the room.

"Even if no one really understands, you've always got us! So don't worry about it; we'll be there for you!"

Link looked a little taken aback by Sora's sudden outburst, but after a moment, he dropped his head and smiled. "Thanks, guys."

Sora grinned wide. "No problem! Now let's go and beat this temple, find the Princess, and beat Ganondorf!"

* * *

The group continued on into the dark. Traps were avoided. Puzzles were solved. Monsters and Heartless defeated. According to Navi, having the Keyblade around made everything simpler. The group didn't have to search for keys and some rooms they could avoid altogether. Anytime they came to a lock, Sora simply unlocked it. Finally, after a long trek steadily downhill and a boat ride with skeletons (don't ask), the group finally stood at a door with a large ornate lock, just like at the other Temples. At a nod from Link, Sora's Keyblade easily unlocked the door and the group stepped inside only to find a small room with a large hole in the middle. Sora peered into the hole; it went down a long way. He couldn't see the bottom, just darkness.

"OK," Link said as he stared into the hole. "Who stays with Sheik up here to watch our backs?"

"Huh?" Sora looked over at Sheik and suddenly understood. Sheik had been handling himself well enough, but the injury from Dead Hand was taking its toll. His visible skin was much paler than usual, and he was undoubtedly favoring his injured arm more than just a little while ago. Sheik turned, probably to argue the point, but one look at Link and any argument ceased. Link's face was set in stone and booked no argument. Sheik simply nodded and slumped down against the wall of the room, cradling his arm. "Fine," he said. "I'll sit this one out. You should take Sora and Donald with you; they'll be better against what's waiting for you down there. Goofy, would you mind staying with me?"

"Gawrsh, sure Sheik."

With a simple nod at Sheik, Link jumped down the hole, Sora and Donald following close behind. The three of them fell for quite a while near complete darkness, and Sora briefly wondered if the Temple had just decided to get rid of them by tricking them into jumping into a bottomless pit. He was about to mention this to Donald when he landed on a springy surface that broke his fall. He bounced up a good distance before settling down again.

Sora looked around. They seemed to be on some kind of platform in the middle of the darkness. Sora didn't want to know what happened if he fell off this platform; maybe he really would fall forever. The platform they were standing on was large and circular and, as Sora had already observed, bouncy, like a coiled spring.

A sudden shock broke Sora out of his observations. The platform shook as if something large had struck it. A single note rang out, and Sora finally realized: the platform wasn't tight like a spring; it was tight like a _drum…_

The surface of the drum shook again. Something large kept striking it out of the shadows. Finally, as the frequency of the strikes increased, the creature showed itself. Sora had seen some pretty ugly things in his life, but this made it onto the list. It was huge, with the shape of a human torso, but its hands had been but off at the wrist. That didn't seem to slow it down; the hands floated at the end of the arms anyway. There also didn't seem to be any head; instead, the neck ended with one giant red eye. To Sora's horror, when the monster rose to its full size, the Heartless emblem was emblazoned on its chest. Like the Dragon in the Fire Temple, this boss had already been consumed by Heartless. As Sora watched, both the body and the hands began to melt into the shadows until it was completely invisible. Sora heard the rushing of wind and dove to the side just as one of the monsters hands slammed down where he'd been standing. Where the palm struck the drum, shadows coalesced brought forth Heartless.

"This is ridiculous!" Donald shot a globe of fire at where the creature's hand should have been, but the fireball simply flew away into the shadows. "How are we supposed to hit something that can't be seen or touched?" Sora wanted to agree, but he was busy dealing with the Heartless to speak up. There had to be some way of fighting this creature…

"**HEY!"**

Oh, thank goodness, Navi had some info. Sora was really starting to look forward to Navi's advice in fights.

"**Listen! **The Creature is called Bongo Bongo! Look at it with the eye of truth! …Well, I guess only Link can do that, but when it becomes visible, whack it!

Link had taken out his bow and was calmly sighting down an arrow into the darkness. His arrow flew out and struck something, which quickly returned to visibility as one of Bongo Bongo's hands. Another arrow streaked out, but was intercepted by a Heartless. Link let out a short cry of exhalation. "Sora! Keep the Heartless focused on you for a few seconds! Donald, keep that hand stunned!"

"You got it!" Sora released a ring of fire around himself, drawing the Heartless' attention. "Hey uglies, over here!" As the Heartless swarmed at Sora, Link got a clear shot and the other hand hung limply in the air, stunned into visibility. With both hands out of commission the body came out of the shadows and began charging Link, trying to push him off the side of the drum. Link didn't even flinch. His bow sang again and an arrow lodged itself right in Bongo Bongo's eye. As it fell back, Link unsheathed his sword and ran forward. "Now! Get it! Let's finish this in one shot!" Sora charged towards the fallen body, swinging his Keyblade as fast as he could. Behind him, Donald let off the blizzard he was using to keep the hands in place and turned his magic on the monster. Link leapt at the eye and brought his sword down, slicing deeply into the monster. As all of their attacks struck home, Bongo Bongo let out a cry and fell back. Its hands flailed frantically, knocking them all backwards away from it. Then, with another shriek, Bongo Bongo started flying up towards the entrance of the room. Understanding hit Sora.

"He's trying to escape the room!"

"Ack!" Goofy and Sheik are still up there! They'll get bowled over!"

"Link, can't you shoot it again?"

"I can't get a clean hit with its back turned!"

"Then we've got to get creative!" Sora ran to the middle of the drum. "Donald, Gravity me!"

Though there was confusion of Donald's face, he quickly cast a Gravity spell at Sora's feet. As the gravity spell took effect, Sora could feel it pushing down, stretching the drumhead downwards. Just a little farther…

With a sudden jolt, the gravity spell ended and the drum rapidly resumed its normal position. Sora was shot into the air as if out of a cannon. The wind whistled in his ear as he flew upward, rapidly gaining on Bongo Bongo. With a mighty upwards strike on the monster's face, Sora halted his upward momentum, in the perfect position to smash downward as he began to fall. His powerful blows were rewarded with another howl of pain from the monster. As he hit the drum again, he looked up, hoping to see Bongo Bongo's death throes, but instead he saw a hand rapidly descending towards them. "Look out!" Sora, Link and Donald dove out of the way, but the shockwave from the hand rippled through the surface of the drum, throwing all of them to the very edge of the drum. Sora rolled off the edge, but managed to keep his arms on the surface, the only thing keeping him from plunging into oblivion. To one side, Link had stabbed his blade into the lip of the drum up to the hilt and was hanging on with one hand, the other hanging on to one of Donald's legs, with Navi holding on to the end of Donald's hat, pulling up with all her might, but no success.

"ACK! DON'T LET GO, LINK!"  
"I… won't…" Link gritted his teeth and gripped his sword tighter, his knuckles going white.

Sora tried to swing himself back up onto the drum, but the shockwaves were making it hard to get a stable grip. Sora had to content himself with just hanging on for dear life.

However, that wasn't going to be good enough. Sora looked up and saw Bongo Bongo hurtling towards the drum, rage in its hacked and slashed eye. When it hit, there was no way they were going to be able to keep their grip.

With certain death incoming, Sora's last thoughts before impact were of Kairi. _"I never really got to tell her how much she meant to me…"_

CLANG

…huh?

…impacts don't go 'clang'…

With a sudden jerk, Bongo Bongo hurtled off course, missing the drum and spiraling downwards into the darkness. Sora looked up again and saw a now familiar kiteshield dropping towards them. Hanging on to it, Goofy fell towards the drum. He landed and immediately ran to Sora, grabbing his arms and helping to pull him back onto the surface of the drum. Sora, abruptly exhausted from the sudden not-being-dead, could barely assist. "Wait, help Link first; he's got Donald-" With a scream of pain as much as exertion, Link unexpectedly pulled himself upward with his one arm and swung Donald up over his head and onto the drum with his other. Donald cried out as he flew through the air and landed safely, Navi still holding on to his hat.

The motion, however, had cost Link the rest of his strength, and his grip on his sword started to fail. With a final cry, his fingers slipped free of his hilt and he started to fall.

"Link!" Sora cried out, but there wasn't anything he could do. As if in slow motion, Link's hand started to drop out of view.

"NO!"

With a sudden flash of smoke and a large pop, Sheik materialized at the lip of the drum, hands shooting downwards to catch Link's arm just before it fell out of reach.

"Link!" Sheik's voice had gone almost an octave higher from fear and the pain of his injured arm. "By all the Goddesses, don't you dare let go! Don't you dare disappear! NOT AGAIN!"

From over the edge, Link's voice came out, weak and tired, but still there. "I'm… not going anywhere. Never… again."

With Goofy helping, Sheik managed to drag Link back over the edge and onto the drum. There, they both slumped, exhausted, Sheik refusing to let go of Link's hand, tears running down both their faces. Sora sagged in relief. It was finally over. It was done.

A sudden bubbling shriek echoed through the cavern.

Sora looked around in frustration. "You've GOT to be kidding me!"

From out in the darkness, Bongo Bongo rose out of the abyss, flying straight towards the group. Sora tried to rise and summon his Keyblade, but his legs wouldn't move. After everything that had happened, now this?

There was sudden movement and flash of golden light to Sora's side. Link had suddenly risen, all fatigue seemingly gone. In a single movement, he drew the Master Sword out of where he had stabbed it and threw it straight at Bongo Bongo's approaching form. The sword spun once in the air, then embedded itself into Bongo Bongo's eye. All energy lost, Bongo Bongo fell to the drum, where forward momentum kept it sliding until it stopped, inches from the group. With a final, bubbling cry, the monster finally started to dissolve, the shadows around it breaking apart and spreading out into nothingness.

Goofy looked at Link in confusion. "Gawrsh, what was that just now? Just a second ago ya couldn't even move!" Link looked at confusion at his hands. "I… don't know."

"But it's time you found out." from the remains of Bongo Bongo's rapidly dissolving body, a blue light and portal emerged. Out stepped an older woman wearing clothing similar to Sheik's, but her face was uncovered. Her eyes, like Sheik's, were bright red, but her hair was white. She looked at the group and, though she didn't smile, Sora could tell she was happy. "The Boy with the noble Zelda's Ocarina…as I expected, you have come." She glanced at Sheik, Sora, Goofy and Donald in turn. "…With friends."

"Impa…" Link shivered a little as tiredness hit him again. "You're the Sage of Shadow… so is it done?"

This time Impa did smile. "Yes. You've performed admirably, and have awoken all the Sages. Now the power of the six Wise Ones will combine with yours, and we will Seal up the Evil King and return peace to Hyrule. But before that…" here, the woman turned and spoke to Sheik. "It's time he knew everything. Go to the Temple of Time, and we Sages will meet you there. Together, we will defeat Ganondorf."

Sheik nodded and turned to Link. "Impa is right. It's time you knew everything about your quest, Link. Travel to the Temple of Time, and I'll explain everything."

Link nodded, then turned to Sora and held out his hand. "You've been with me for this long; can you stand with me for just a little longer?"

Sora clasped Link's hand and got to his feet. "Absolutely!" he beamed. "We're in this to the end!"

Link smiled. "Thank you. Now, we go after Ganondorf."

* * *

Fun fact: Bongo Bongo takes 63 hits from weapons to kill, the most of any Boss in _Ocarina of Time._

Fun fact 2: this chapter from start to finish is, according to Word, 6003 words. Coincidence?

…Well yes, actually.

I'm back! This has been the hardest thing I've ever written, and I'm including school essays, college papers and church talks in here. I've been back from my mission for six months and it's only been in the last day that I've finally mustered the creativity and inspiration to finish this chapter. Sorry for the incredibly long wait, and thanks for the patience. Hopefully this was worth your while.

On a completely unrelated note, my inspiration returned after I wrote the first two chapters for a completely unrelated story, titled _Graduates of Olympus_. All _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_ fans out there, you'd do me a huge favor if you checked it out and told me what's what about it.

Standard disclaimers apply. Zelda owned by Nintendo, Kingdom Hearts by Square Enix.

There will be one more chapter after this. Nice and symbolic, right? Seven sages, Seven Princesses of Heart, Seven Chapters…

As always, any changes from the game are for story convenience. Please message me if you find any typos.

Two notes about the chapter. I got several messages asking about the Spirit Temple. in Chapter 2 (I think) it's mentioned that Link and Navi had already gone through the Forest and Spirit Temples. I did that mostly for convenience; I didn't want to have to write for all the temples. In my world, Link and Navi didn't go through each temple one at a time, but were tackling most of the temples simultaneously before the Heartless arrived. Hence why the Water and Fire Temples were already partially/mostly completed.

Second note... I forgot my second note. Never mind.

It's been fun. Catch you next time.

Bonus for anyone who can find the _The Thief and the Cobbler_ reference in this chapter!


End file.
